A Slenderman Christmas pt3
by potosw
Summary: Is Ellaina alive or dead? Slenderman will try to solve this, all while dealing with a son he may or may not want.
1. Chapter 1

A/N- Due to a death threat and being compared to Bellatrix Lestrange, I have decided to put up chapter one of part three right away. Plus, if the world ends tomorrow, I cannot leave the story on a cliffy.

"_I am so sorry…"_

That simple little phrase had been how the doctor had begun before he explained what had become of the wife of der Ritter. How could it be so simple for the human to write off the life of another human being? It made sense that the One would be able to do so, for he had been killing humans for many years. Were humans not supposed to care more for those of their kind that passed away? Still, it was the Little One who had died, so der Groβman was less than happy over the whole situation.

There had been complications during the birthing process. Something had caused her to begin bleeding and no amount of medical intervention had been able to stop the bleeding. Her life source had slowly left her while the doctors stood by helpless, unable to help in any way. No amount of medicine had been able to clot the blood. Nothing had been able to help. It was a miracle in and of itself that the baby had been able to survive the entire ordeal.

The doctor and the silent husband were making their way into the room where the body had been left. It was supposed to have been cleaned up while the doctor went to inform the husband of the situation. As the two entered the room, they were greeted with something that neither expected to see. The entire medical team was dead. Each person was scattered across the room and each was covered in blood. All of them had various wounds. Blood coated every inch of the room-the floor, the walls, and even the ceiling. What was the most surprising was that Ellaina's body was gone. It was nowhere to be found amongst the gore of the room. It seemed that the only thing that might be alive in the room was one man, who was trapped under some sort of medical table.

Slender knew who this man was, and he spent no time in going to help the man. The doctor, meanwhile, had proved how incredibly useful he was. He had passed out and was currently lying face down in a puddle of blood. It was a wonder how the man had gotten through medical school. One would think that the sight of blood should not perturb him. Then again, a murder scene was rather different than that of a surgical scene. Still, the condition of the doctor was not the first thing on the Slenderman's mind. All he cared about was getting down to the bottom of whatever had happened here. The whole scene was suspicious. The only one who might have the answers had just been unburied from the pile of medical supplies.

"God, what hit me?" Totheark questioned while rubbing his head and pulling himself up to his feet. He looked around the room, only now noticing what had become of the doctors. "Um, Dad, did you do this?"

_Why would I kill these people? They have done nothing to me. The doctor, the one passed out over there, said that Ellaina had died… _Slender replied, trying to make sense of everything that was happening. It seemed that his adoptive son had no idea what had happened. A quick scan of the man's memories confirmed this. The last thing he could pull from the mind was Ellaina bleeding. He forced that image from his mind. It was not something that he wanted to see. _Do you remember anything before you passed out?_

The normally masked man looked at the bloodied room once again before bringing his attention back to that of his adoptive father. "Ellaina was bleeding pretty badly after they delivered the baby. A nurse took the baby away to the nursery and then… I don't really know what happened. The last thing I can remember seeing were two glowing, red eyes."

_Red eyes, _he echoed. How many beings were on this planet that had that defining characteristic? How many beings in this city alone had those eyes? To search out every one of them would be foolish. It seemed that something had taken Ellaina's body. There could be the slim chance that she was alive, though Slenderman refused to put his hopes on that fact. It was because of him, because of his seed, that the mother of his child was possibly dead. Still, he would like to at least see the child, even if it was the reason for Ellaina's demise. Had they never had the child, would Ellaina still be here with him? The answer was that she most likely would still be here. She would be at home with him celebrating Christmas, and likely finding some cute way to annoy him.

"Slen? Have I lost you to thought again?" Totheark questioned, waving a hand in front of the face-well, lack thereof-of der Ritter. He glanced about the room once more, noticing that the cameras had somehow been destroyed. It was likely that security would be here soon to find out what was going on, and to avoid possible arrest for murder, he and Slender would need to leave quickly.

Picking up on Totheark's thoughts, the Slenderman turned away from the man and made his way back toward the door. They really did need to leave this place. It would be easiest to simply teleport away, of course. There were no cameras here. He turned back to his adoptive son, who nearly ran into him. He offered a hand to the shorter one. _We should be leaving now. Give me your hand, and I will take us home. _

"What about the baby?" Totheark asked, brow furrowed. It could not be that Slender had forgotten the child. He had been talking so much about the baby. The man had even spent time caring for his and Anne's child to get practice at caring for a baby.

_The baby is the reason Ellaina is gone, that baby and my seed. I do not need a child to remind me that I killed my Little One, _Slender replied, anger in his voice. He knew that it was not always advisable to make decisions when stressed or angry, but at the moment he did not care. He wanted to be out of this hospital. He wanted to go looking for whatever had taken Ellaina.

Totheark glared at the Faceless One. "I have known you to be cruel, but you are not cruel enough to abandon your own child. I will not leave this place without your baby." When Slender tried to grab him, he only moved out of the way and began heading toward where the nurse had gone, to the nursery. He continued on through the hall, not allowing himself to be caught to be teleported back home. The man entered the nursery, finding it to be in the same condition as the other room. The babies, however, were all fine. Only the adults had been harmed. Whatever had been here had not found what it was looking for. Slender's baby was bundled away in a corner, blue blanket wrapped tightly over the small body. He picked the baby up and turned and forced the child into the arms of his adoptive father. "Now we can go home. And congratulations, it's a boy."

Slenderman only held the child close to him as he finally got a hold of Totheark. He could waste time on the baby later and what he would call it. For now, they had to get out of this hospital. He could not risk them being caught and accused of murder. He planned on teleporting them away, to bring them back to Ellaina's home. It was therefore a surprise to him when they suddenly disappeared from the hospital. They ended up in Totheark's home, and it had not been the Slenderman who had brought them to the location.

A/N- Please excuse my mistakes. My brain doesn't want to proof read. LOL


	2. Chapter 2

A/N- I was in the middle of wrapping Christmas presents and had to stop because plot kept coming into my head, demanding to be written. Be happy, people.

_Black. Everything is shrouded in a cloak of blackness. There is no light anywhere, and no amount of effort will bring forth any light. No screaming and struggling will bring light back into the world. The only companion she had was the darkness, and that of the being that she could sense in the room with her. She did not know who or what it was, but there was something decidedly familiar about the being's aura. Still, she could not place what the being could be-friend or foe. She could only hope that it would not kill her. She could only hope that it was not-_

….

They had appeared in Totheark's home, and it had not been Slenderman's doing. How they had wound up here was a mystery to the owner of said house, but the Faceless One had a pretty good idea about whose doing it was. The child must have done this, for Totheark certainly did not have the ability to teleport, not that he was aware of. Slendy looked down onto the child, only now taking a moment to look on what _his son _looked like. The child looked to be human, but there was one defining characteristic that was not human. The eyes, or lack thereof. There was only a blank expanse where the eyes should have been. Outside of that, the child was completely human.

Thoughts for the child were interrupted by the sound of someone screaming in what seemed to be pain. Both of the men headed toward the source of the sound. Screams were never a good thing when it came to this odd little family. The men could only hope that Anne had cut herself in some way, shape, or form, and that she had not been killed by something or someone. Still, knowing their luck, it was most likely the latter.

The scream had come from what sounded to be the baby's room. Totheark ran in ahead of his father figure, fully intending to defend his wife if the need be. The sight which greeted him made him stop, his blood freezing. There was some sort of creature bent over his Anne, draining her blood. From the looks of things, Anne was already dead. She was not moving. She was not fighting. Any signs of life were completely gone from the short woman. The normally masked man stood there, shock and emotional pain rooting him to his spot. All the man could do was cry out in shock. His cry only altered the monster to his presence. It looked onto the human with glaring red eyes and bared its rows of needle-like teeth.

The human had never seen something like this, but the Slenderman most certainly had. This was of the same type of creature that had attacked Ellaina a year ago. Memories of her nearly dying to this type of beast came to him. This only fueled the anger that was already searing through his blood. What right did this _thing _have to harm Anne? She had never done anything. Her only transgression was that she knew a paranormal entity. That most certainly did not warrant her death. He forced his son into the arms of Totheark and moved to defend the man. The monster had already taken the blood of someone he considered to be close to him. He was not about to allow the thing to kill any other.

Teeth bore, dripping with Anne's blood, the monster lunged toward the Slenderman. It could not understand why the Slenderman would want to defend a human. The humans were filthy creatures that needed to be exterminated from the world. He was only here on a job-kill the mother of the human child and allow the baby to live. So what if he killed one more human? What difference would it make? One less of _their kind _would make more room for his kind. It would also make more room for the Slenderman. Would he not like to live in a world where their kind ruled the day instead of the night? The thoughts of the monster proved to put him at a disadvantage. The monster was caught in the tendrils and subdued with what seemed to be very little effort from the Faceless One.

_What is your purpose here? _Slender asked, his "mind voice" speaking that of the language of the monster which was held captive. When the monster merely growled out a profanity, Slender knew that he would have to do this the hard way. So be it. This beast had caused Totheark pain. That pain was evident as the man sobbed over the broken body of Anne, and it was that pain which only served to anger the Slenderman all the more. What else could possibly go wrong today? Anne was dead; Ellaina was possibly dead; and the thing he had to call son looked the part of a monster. What was Fate up to? Did Fate simply like to make his life as horrible as possible? His grip on the monster became painfully tight, causing the red eyes to glow bright as a small hiss of pain escaped the teeth. _Tell me why you are here, and I may consider releasing you._

The monster only smiled, showing off more of the blood it had taken from the little human woman. "_She tasted wonderful. You know as well as I, Slender, that a woman who just gave birth tastes all the better."_ This comment only resulted in the monster having a tendril impale itself into the flesh. An organ of some sort was removed from the body. This display of physical torment did force a scream of pain from the monster.

_Stay on topic. Next time, you will lose more than just one organ, _Slender stated, not caring one way or another that the monster's blood was on him. He could care less if his clothing was stained. He did not care if the blood covered his skin. Then, something seemed to come to him. This creature, who was still trying to recover from the shock of being attacked, had _red eyes. _Totheark said that something with red eyes had been the one to attack at the hospital. The tendrils gripped the monster all the tighter, bringer its face to that of the Slenderman. _Who are you working for?_

The monster only spit in the face of der Ritter. He knew that his fate would be worse than death if he were to give up who he was working for. To die at the hands of the Slenderman would be horrible, but it would be preferred to dying by the hands of his boss. Still, the feel of those tendrils penetrating his flesh once again was not something he particularly enjoyed. The monster growled with agony as he felt the lithe members tearing through his flesh. They only seemed to be looking to cause massive internal damage. This damage would cause him to experience a painfully slow death. And, if he somehow managed to survive this, the pain from this encounter would always be with him. The tendrils, to sum things up, were causing permanent damage. It was when the tendrils suddenly pulled out of his flesh and began to rip away his extremities that the monster knew that telling the truth would be the better option.

"_Slen! Slender, I will make you a deal. I'll tell you who I work for if you make my death nice and quick. No more of this torture crap," _the monster stated, trying to make his voice loud enough to be heard over the tearing of his own flesh. Seeing as the Slenderman had paused in his ministrations, the other nonhuman took this as his cue to go on. "_The one I work for is not human. I won't say his name, but I'll tell you where he is. Look for the Point that is Pleasant and you will discover the Domes of Truth. It is up to you to figure things out." _

The monster had found that he had just enough movement to get himself free from the grip of the Slenderman. He certainly would not be able to fight, or even escape, but he could avoid having to give the name of his boss. When the monster found that he had his freedom, he quickly ended himself. Whether the Slenderman had planned to allow for this or if it had been a surprise to him, the monster would never know. All he would know was that he would avoid any more suffering on the planet earth.

The Slenderman stood over the body of the creature. What the creature had said made little sense to him, but at the same time, there was something about what he said that reminded him of some distant memory. What could it be, though? Still, he had other things that he would have to deal with at the moment. Totheark would need someone to help him through the loss of Anne. At the very least, he would still have the baby. As he approached the one he called son, something seemed to be rather off about the whole situation. Totheark was completely silent. The only sound was that of Anne's baby crying. The Slenderman would have gone to see what was wrong with Totheark had his own baby not gotten in the way. The child had been left to its own devices and was currently lying on his back, looking to be none too happy. The child seemed to sense its father was close, for he immediately put his hands in the air, as if demanding to be picked up.

Slenderman only looked down on the child. _I thought that newborns were helpless and barely able to function on their own, _he muttered to himself as he used a tendril to pick the child up. As soon as he was in contact with said child, they disappeared from Totheark's house. They ended up back in Ellaina's home. The elder of the two nonhumans glared at his son. _You must stop doing that._

That baby merely giggled in what was likely mirth, seeming to be unaware of his father's thoughts over Totheark's condition.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N- Sorry for the late update. I was being a lazy bum. Anyway, Spring Semester has started, so expect more frequent updates. You have to love college.

_The darkness is still there. It has been there since the time in the hospital. The question now is where exactly is here? With everything shrouded in darkness, there is no real way to determine the exact location. The only company she has is voices. There are two. One sounds familiar while the other does not sound entirely human. They speak of odd topics-of a boss, of something promised, and of their ultimate goal. She does not know what their goal could be, but the familiar voice says that it involves her and his boss. Her only hope is to be saved before this goal can be reached, for something tells her that whatever the goal is, it will not end well for her._

However this child had inherited some of his powers did not concern the Slenderman. His only thought was the need to find out what had happened to Ellaina. If the child had only waited a moment, they could have checked on Totheark and then they could have gone home. Of course, the child had not allowed for that. No, it had wanted to go home.

_It. _That was not a proper term for a child, he knew. The child did have a gender, so the child deserved to be acknowledged as a _him, _if only by his father. Certainly, no human would be able to look on him without first thinking of him as a monster. This child was the product of his selfish desires and now the babe would suffer through life much like his father had. There would be no hope for the child, especially considering that the Slenderman did not plan to be involved in his life. No, it was because of this child that Ellaina might be dead. Raine could have the child. A pack of wolves could have the child for all he cared.

The child, though, would not let go of one of the tendrils he had attached himself to. The baby had, in a sense, become a limpet. There would be no way of removing this limpet. Oh no, this limpet was perfectly happy right where it was. No amount of reasoning from the father would make the little limpet let go. The child saw its father as the greatest thing in the world. Of course, the child only knew the face of his father, so this would be the natural order of things. Still, the child knew of a voice. It was a woman's voice, but that was something it had yet to hear. For now, the child would settle with the faceless man who put thoughts in his head.

The father held the child out, trying to instill some fear into the boy by making the child look on his face. This only resulted in the child laughing and reaching pudgy fingers toward the blank expanse of a face. With a sigh of defeat, der Ritter simply resigned himself to his new companion. He would be able to rid himself of the pest soon enough. _We must go back to Uncle Totheark's house, _he told the child, expecting him to understand for some reason. All seemed to be fine. It seemed like the child was ready to go back to visit his _uncle. _Yes, everything was fine until the baby began to cry and quite loudly.

Slendy held the child out, away from himself, as if fearing that the small body might implode upon itself. He had no idea what to do with a baby. _What? What did I do? You were fine not a moment ago. Stop crying. _This protest into the child's mind only seemed to make things all the worse, as the crying was added to be keening wails. The father knew nothing of this. Totheark had never behaved this way. The child had never screamed like this. He knew that he was not holding his boy too tightly. No, he was not that stupid. What could possibly be going wrong?

Raine walked into the room upon hearing the screams of a child. The sight which greeted her made her openly laugh, if only for a moment. Her thoughts were not on where Ellaina might be, but rather the mental state of the child-and the fact that Slender had a son. The little boy was not a happy camper by any stretch of the imagination, and she had a pretty good guess as to why. She walked over to the protesting youth and got a rather good whiff of him. Yes, she was correct in what was wrong with him. Seeing the Slenderman watching her rather closely, Raine took this as some sort of cue to explain why the baby was carrying on so. "Do you have a sense of smell?" she asked, tilting her head slightly.

_What? _Slendy questioned, completely taken aback by her question. What did that have to do with anything? Raine was a woman. She should know what was wrong with the child. She likely did know what was wrong with the balling baby. When she only repeated her question, he nodded. He still could not understand what his sense of smell had to do with anything. Then…he noticed the rather foul odor that was coming from the crying child. _You're kidding me? _he asked the baby, sounding none too pleased with the boy. He sat the child onto the couch and glared down onto the boy. _I expect you want to be changed then?_

Raine began laughing. "Slen, he is only a baby. He doesn't know any better. And you have to talk to him like a baby. You can't treat him like an adult. Try baby talk." She looked down onto the crying infant, only now noticing that he had inherited some of his father's physical traits. This did not bother her in the least. In fact, she found it to be charming. Then again, she was not the typical human. Most would not share her sentiments.

_Do you really want me to baby talk this child? Rather, do you want to hear the Slenderman, the one that is supposed to be a heartless killer, do baby talk? Be reasonable. _Slender stated, while he used one of his tendrils to pluck up a package of diapers. Ellaina had insisted that they have them at home. She had also insisted that he learn how to change one. Lucky him. Still, this could not be avoided, so he did what had to be done.

The thought of changing a diaper had certainly never appealed to him, but he had never thought doing so would make him want to be sick. The child was an absolute mess. Raine, of course, merely sat back and laughed at his efforts. After about half of the package of baby wipes had been used and after three failed attempts to put the diaper on, the father had finally managed to get his son to stay still enough to put one on properly. He even managed to dress the boy in one of the cute, little outfits that Ellaina had bought when out with Anne. They certainly had done plenty of shopping.

Slender nodded to himself, looking down on the child. _There, now you are all clean. Do you feel better now?_ Again, he did not know why he expected the baby to understand him. For the child it was likely that he only heard random sounds. Maybe baby talk was the best plan. Still, the child was smiling now, reaching out toward his father again. Slender used a tendril to pick the child up-a dangerous proposition considering that he had only just removed this limpet. And once again the Slenderman had gained a limpet. Looking from the pudgy hands that were wrapped tightly around a tendril and to the child's face, Slender stated, _You will need to let go of Daddy. You get to stay with Aunty Raine._ He pointed toward the woman.

The baby merely gave a slight hiccup. Father and son disappeared from the room, only to end up back in Totheark's house. Slender glared at his son, not noticing what else was in the room that they had shown up in. He shook his head slightly while pointing a finger at the boy, _That is a no-no. You do not teleport Daddy. _

A/N- Forgive how short this is.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N- You all have my literature professor to thank for the quick update. We got to analyze a poem, which put me in the mood to write. :)

_The familiar voice and the nonhuman voice have turned out not to be evil, or at least it appears to be so. These voices keep her in the dark, but they do make sure that she is fed and that she is given something to drink. She is given three meals a day and as much to drink as she would like. Still, there is something a bit off about the food and drink. These two things seemed to have somehow slowed her body and mind down. She is starting to find it harder to form coherent thoughts and her ability to move has all but deserted her. Still, the voices say that everything is going fine and according to plan. This reassures her and makes her not worry about the food and the drink. She takes it as it is given to her and acts the part of the good girl. She would not want to disappoint the voices, for they are so nice. Still, wasn't someone supposed to come for her?_

The thought that his child would be like him had never entered the Slenderman's mind. He had expected the child to be more human and not have any of the characteristics that were so well known to him. At the very least, he had not expected the child to inherit any of his powers. Naturally, though, Fate had decided to do something completely different. Whatever, or whoever, Fate might be seemed to make it a sport, this proving him wrong and just generally messing with his life. Still, he did not have the time to worry over Fate's next move. Right now, he had bigger problems, and his son insisted upon helping with said problem.

There was another creature in the house. Sometime when the baby had taken the Slenderman away, the monster had decided to show up. It looked to be human for the most part, excluding how incredibly skinny it was. It also had the defining characteristic of having no eyes. Still, the thing was able to sense where its target was. The thing did not appear to have any problem with taking down something it could not see, for Totheark had already been attacked. It was by some trick of luck that the man was even alive. Said man was now behind the Slenderman, badly injured and likely on the brink of Death. The human's only hope of survival would be if his father figure was able to kill the creature quickly enough and heal him. The way things were going, it seemed that the latter was not going to happen. This was due to the fact that the baby insisted on teleporting himself and his father about the room. This made things far more difficult than they had to be.

The creature had been sent here with simple instructions: kill the human that you might find living in this home and then return to base. Failure to do so would result in a fate worse than Death. To be successful would mean being rewarded. Well, with his primal mind, the creature knew very little but he did know the difference between Death and a reward. A reward was something good. The Boss was very powerful, so it was likely that the reward would be great. Killing the human had seemed like an easy enough task…until the Slenderman had shown up. And said being was not fighting as he was known to fight. His attacks were usually very coordinated and graceful, even. Now, said being just seemed to be teleporting at random. Still, he was somehow winning the fight. This was proven when one of the tendrils wrapped around his neck and slammed his skinny body into the wall.

Slender glared into the holes that were the monster's eyes. He knew that this being could see him. It was very likely that this beast that had been sent to kill Totheark was connected with the one who had killed Anne. He meant to ask the creature who he was working for. He meant to look threatening, but this was ruined by the baby suddenly laughing as he reached out toward the monster.

The creature laughed slightly, ignoring how this made the tendril about his neck tighten to a painful point. "This is the Slenderman that everyone fears?" he asked, his voice not sounding masculine or feminine but rather a combination of the two. "Who would have known that he runs a babysitting service?" The creature turned its eyeless attention to the child and screeched loudly. This, of course, made the baby begin crying. The creature did not know why he gained such pleasure from seeing the child cry in fear, but he was not about to question it. The base feeling that it gave him was great and he wanted to feel more of it. The fear of another being could easily be made to fuel his power. While the Slenderman got his power from brute strength, this creature was able to gain power through powerful emotions. It was a perfect and simple way for a simple monster to gain power.

Again, thought proved to be the downfall of another creature. It had not planned on the Slenderman attacking him. The other tendrils were used to impale the monster. The one from its neck slipped away to hang in front of the creature's face. It was held ready to attack at any moment. The blank face came to be merely a breath away from that of the eyeless entity.

_I will ask one time. Who do you work for? _Slender questioned, all the while trying to get the baby to stop its crying. The child had not protested this much when he had last seen a monster be killed. The child was truly starting to become more trouble than he was worse. Still, the child could still be perhaps of some use to him.

"Go to Hell," the creature replied, spitting at the small child that the Slenderman was holding so close, in an almost protective way. The screams of the child were the last thing the monster heard. He had known, somehow, that attacking the little one the Slenderman held was the key to earning a quick and easy death. Sure, attacking a child was low, but he was a low being. It was something that he would be able to live with when he went to the final resting place.

Slender had killed the monster without a second thought when it had harmed his son. So, what did this mean, that he was staring to like the kid? He had been so sure that he hated the child for potentially killing his mother, but now things were different. Slender realized that he had reacted as if someone had attacked Ellaina. He cared for the child, though he was sure that he did not love the child. There was no way that he could bring himself to love the thing that was responsible for what had become of Ellaina. Still, was it the child's fault? The first monster had said something about…what was it again? There was a clue about the _Point that is Pleasant and the Domes of Truth. _He really needed to figure out what that meant, but he had another pressing issue-his crying son.

All that was on the baby's face was some spit. It did not appear to have even caused the child any harm, so he could not understand why the child insisted upon protesting so much. He tried to be gentle with the child, cupping the small face with his hand. It was only now that the father of said child realized just how small the baby was. It made Slender hold the child just a bit closer to him, though the man refused to acknowledge that he had done so. _What is it, my Tiny One? Why are you so sad? Tell Daddy and he will make things better._

The baby looked toward that of an unmoving body which had been more or less forgotten. It was Totheark's body. It was not moving. There was no sense of life coming from said human. This made Slender's blood run cold. It could not happen. The boy had been injured and close to Death, but he was not at the point he was going to die. Or, had he been? Slender had been too preoccupied with thoughts of Ellaina and the baby to even bother thinking about Totheark. Now, he would have to pay the price for his lack of attention. The price was high though, and no amount of effort from his part would bring the one he called son back. The boy was beyond saving. The price for Slender's inattentive attitude had been Totheark's life.

Anger was something that came easy to him. It was something that he understood quite well, so the Slenderman allowed this emotion to take control of him. He glared toward the baby, who had been placed aside while Totheark had been attempted to be saved. Slender came to stand over the child, his hand clenched with anger. _If you had only done as you were told, Totheark would be alive. _Without a thought he lashed a tendril out at the child. It slapped across the child's face, not killing the baby but causing a harsh, red gash to appear. This, in turn, caused the baby to scream out in what could only be described as agony.

The sudden screams snapped Slender out of his anger. He looked down on the baby, the red clearing from his vision. He knew what he had done and he regretted it immensely. What kind of father attacks his own son? He had promised himself to never cause his child any pain, and yet he had just attacked the child when it was completely defenseless. Truly, he was a monster. When Slender moved toward the child, the baby only began sobbing. Clearly, he wanted nothing to do with his father. Still, the man picked the babe up and healed him.

Slenderman took them home, despite how much the baby was screaming and squirming away from his father. They needed to teleport back home so he could find the baby's mother and disappear from their lives completely. He was not fit to be a father. He never should have gotten involved in the human world. As soon as Ellaina was safe and with her child, Slenderman vowed that he would simply retreat back into the forest. That was where he belonged. It was where he would not hurt the ones that he cared about.

A/N- I am being lazy, and I do not want to proof read. Could you please excuse mistakes? *hands out Slenderman shaped cookies* Have fun biting his head off. :)


	5. Chapter 5

A/N- I am sorry for not updating right away. College and my bad health got in the way.

_The voices are the Masters. They tell her what she should think and do and she cannot help but want to please them. Still, the one with the nonhuman voice has been complaining quite a bit as of late. He says that this deal is getting worse all the time. The other voice, the one that was familiar, is the one in charge, and he does not sound very happy with the other voice. She still does not know where she stands in all of this, but she knows that she will side with the familiar voice rather than the nonhuman voice. He clearly has more power. In addition, he promised that he would give her Sight once again. This made her happy. She could then both serve and see her Masters. _

The baby was still quite upset when they returned to Ellaina's home. He had stopped trying to squirm free from his father, but he was still crying quite a bit. This disturbed the Slenderman. He did not know how to deal with the situation. When he had been thinking about the baby's birth and raising the child, never had it crossed his mind that this sort of thing would happen. He had sworn to himself to be a good father. Totheark had said that he had done a good job at it where he was concerned. Still, how could he allow himself to continue caring for the child after what he had done? What if something like this were to happen again? Slender did not want to chance such a thing. He had already lost one "son", so he did not want to lose another. Yes, he was going to force himself to stick to his plan of leaving after he saved Ellaina-if she was still alive, that is.

Both had appeared in the kitchen, where Raine had been baking some cookies. She had been focused on her task, for she liked baking. It kept her mind busy and allowed her to block out the various stray emotions she could pick up on. Still, when Slender came into the room, all thoughts of baking went out the proverbial window. His emotions were screaming out to her, though she could not accurately describe just which emotion was currently dominating him. The baby was easier to read. The boy was very sad about something that had happened. Perhaps their emotional states were connected in some way? Well, the only way to find out was to ask what happened, so she did just that.

Slender would not meet her eyes. He knew that he could block his emotions from her "radar" but there was no way he could hide what he had done. While the baby had been healed, there was a scar left behind. This was always what happened when he healed someone-scar tissue. Rather than speaking, he simply held out the baby for her to hold. Slender saw how her eyes widened slightly at the fresh scar that was across the babe's face. Her eyes came up to look where his should have been, waiting for some sort of explanation. He should have known better than to think she would not want to have details. _There was a creature at Totheark's home. It had attacked him, and he ended up dying from his injuries. I…lost control of my temper and blamed the baby._ Slender did not want to openly admit that he had attacked the child. He prayed that Raine would be able to extrapolate from the incomplete data.

Raine sighed heavily, looking back down on the child who had stopped crying. The emotion coming from the baby was one of discomfort and confusion. Yet, when the child looked toward his father, the emotions changed. They were happier where the father figure was concerned. She looked back up at the Slenderman, who seemed to be waiting for her to say something. Perhaps he thought that she would yell at him or strike him for harming the child. In all reality she should have done such a thing, but that was not her way. No, she knew that words caused him more pain. It would be cruel of her to use the words, but he did deserve some form of punishment for harming the baby.

"Why would you act the part of the monster? You say that you are not one, but your actions speak differently," Raine stated, fixing him with a harsh glare. She laughed shortly, no humor in it. "Why this child still likes you is beyond my understanding."

Slender looked quickly to the child. _What do you mean?_ he questioned. It could not be that the child still wanted to be around him. That was impossible. It simply could not be true after what he had done to the baby. He had attacked him. That scar would be a permanent reminder as to what he had done to the baby, and the boy would want to know how he had gotten it. How would he be able to explain to his son what had happened?

Raine held the child out to the Slenderman, waiting for the being to take his son. "The baby's emotions say that he wants to be closer to you than to me. It would appear that he likes you far more than me." Once the small boy was in his father's tentative arms, the child's emotions changed to those of being relaxed and happy, though not very trusting. It was now that she was able to get a truly better look at the baby. He looked healthy, and he had his mother's nose. His coloring was closer to that of his father though. It was clear, though, that the child would be quite handsome as he grew to become an adult. Still, his lack of eyes would make things difficult for him. Knowing Slen though, he would find some way to have the child be able to have a perfectly normal childhood. "Have you named him yet?" Raine questioned, trying to break some of the tension in the room. For some reason, Slender was not hiding his emotions from her.

A name, how had he forgotten to name the child? Maybe it had something to do with all of the various things that had been going on recently. Slender looked down on the boy, his boy. For whatever reason Fate had decided to smile on him and give him this gift. He would need to start treating the baby properly. How had he even considered abandoning this baby? Truly, he was a monster for even thinking about such a thing. Had Ellaina known what he had been considering, she would bitch him into the next century, or worse. But, what to name the child? He most certainly was not creative, but he did have one idea. He could only hope that Ellaina would like the name. Nodding slightly to himself, having decided on a name, he looked back to Raine. _I believe I will call him Sohn. _

A/N- I am sorry that this is such a short update, but I wanted to get something up before I had to go to my class. I will try to update again today. *passes out Slender plushies* Have fun.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N- So, I just found out that my story somehow got added to the Slender Mythos Community. I don't know how this happened, but I am guessing that you lovely reviewers made this possible. Thank you.

_The voices have been arguing more and more often. Sometimes it will even come to blows between the two. On occasion the nonhuman voice will be able to get in a good shot, but it is mostly the familiar voice that does the damage to the other. Just recently the familiar voice brought what sounded to be severe harm to the nonhuman. She does not know what to make of this, but she does not question it. The more powerful voice is slowing allowing her to have some Sight, for she can see blurred images. Her thoughts are always on the voices, on her Masters. Still, something deep in the back of her mind says that she is waiting for someone to save her from these voices. Still, who could it be?_

Raine had informed him that the baby would likely need some sleep before the day was over, so Slender had brought the child to the basinet. Looking down on the child, he realized just how small Sohn was. It would be so easy for the baby to be harmed by any of the numerous entities which held grudges against the Slenderman. Would it be that the child would always be in danger due to who his father was? The likely answer was yes, though Slender wished he could deny this fact to himself. At the moment, the babe had no way of being able to defend himself. Still, Sohn would be able to learn to fight if the need be as he grew older. There was no way of telling if his son had inherited any of his other powers. Only time would tell.

Though he was loathe to leave the child's side, Slender knew that he had to go and find out what had happened to Ellaina. And, there was also the fact of Totheark's death. He had not even taken the proper time to analyze what had become of the one that he had called son. Anne was dead as well, meaning that their child would never know his parents. Then it came to the Slenderman. Their baby! He had been left at the house where no one would be able to take care of him. How could he have forgotten their child so easily?

He looked down to his own child, who was apparently sleeping. _I will be back soon. Aunty Raine will be here for you. _Why he felt the need to tell the child this was beyond him. Sohn was perfectly asleep; he would not be able to hear his father. Maybe speaking to the child was a part of being a father, or something. Still, he had never done this when Totheark had been young. When he had gone out while the child was sleeping, he had always left a note behind. Of course, the baby could not read. That could be a part of it. Still, what were the odds that the baby understood him in the first place? Things had never been so difficult where Totheark was concerned.

Shaking his head Slender knew that he really needed to get going before something happened to Totheark's son. He was not about to lose anyone else that was connected to him. He planned to find Raine to tell her he was leaving and ask if she would watch over Sohn, but she made this easier for him by coming into the room.

"He looks so sweet," Raine commented while looking down onto the Slenderman's baby. She could not lie to herself. She was jealous that she did not have a child of her own. Still, she would look over this child. He had lost his mother, after all. Perhaps she could fill that spot, and if she did perhaps the father of said child would finally pick up on her emotions.

Slender internally smiled to himself. _Indeed he is. How I managed to create something like this is beyond my understanding. I suppose Fate's punishment for having the child is Ellaina being gone. _This was still something that he did not like to think on. He truly could not blame the baby for his Little One's possible death. It was his fault. He had been the one who had gotten her pregnant. Had a normal man done so, she would likely still be here. His selfish actions had caused all of this heartache and death.

Raine turned to face him, lightly resting a hand on his chest. Gods, how she wished she could just tell him what she felt. But, that would be wrong, wouldn't it? He had been married to Ellaina, but she _was _gone. "You cannot blame yourself for her loss. Many women die in childbirth. Some women's bodies simply cannot handle the strain of birth."

_She may still be alive, Raine, _Slender replied, not noticing how she was standing so close to him. He simply assumed her touch was out of friendship. They had been friends for so long. Another thing he had yet to ask her was how she had come to be here. With Ellaina's pregnant and everything that went along with it, Slender had been distracted. He never once asked her what had happened to her and how she had been able to find him, or why she had been looking for him. He needed to get going, though. Totheark's baby could be in danger for all that he knew.

"Of course she could be," Raine muttered under her breath.

He picked up on her statement. His gaze became sharp on her as he allowed himself to pick up on her emotions. He would normally never use his powers on those that he knew, but he was willing to make an exception in this case. Raine's emotions were not uniformly one thing. They say, of course, that it is hard to read a woman's emotions, but he had always been able to get a pretty good reading on what females were feeling. Of course, it was normally terror if they ran into him in the woods, but he had been able to read Ellaina and Anne. Raine, though, was different.

Raine knew full well that he was trying to read her, for she was allowing it. With an exasperated sigh, she let her emotions control her. "You never once questioned what happened to me. You were just so damn focused on your little wife. How many days had I devoted to you? Yet, as soon as you thought me dead, you simply left. Well, I was not dead. The sickness I had lead to paralysis. That was why I could not move. You left me in the woods. Do you know what kinds of men lurk in the woods?"

_There are far worse things than men in the woods, Raine, _Slender replied. He would need to think on what had happened to her later. He really needed to get going to get to the baby. He planned to simply teleport away and argue with Raine later, but she had a firm hold on the lapels of his suit coat. If he were to teleport to Totheark's home now, she would be brought along. He could not take the risk of some creature being in Totheark's home and trying to kill her. They were friends, after all.

"Stop thinking and focus," Raine demanded, her anger flaring. "You refuse to answer the question, so I'll answer it for you." She tried to hold onto her anger, though her memories were making that rather difficult. Tears threatened at her eyes, but she was not about to let them fall. She was not going to look weak in front of him. "Slender, rapists lived in those woods where you left me." Never had she told anyone about this. It was a dark secret that she had been forced to live with for years. It was because of them that she had never known love. It was due to them that she would never be able to have any children.

For once, his thoughts did stop. His focus came to rest on Raine. No, what she was implying could not be possible. He could not have left her to that fate. He had thought her to be dead. How could Fate be this cruel to her? Raine had done no harm to anyone. The worst part was that she had projected her thoughts and memories unintentionally. He had been able to see clearly what had happened to her. He looked away from her. _Raine, I did not know. I would never have left-_

"Please don't try to make things better. You cannot change the past," Raine replied. She did not like to think of that time. It was the worst time of her life. Tears slid down her face as the memories kept coming to the forefront of her mind. "Slen, I know that you can wipe away memories. Please, take those memories from me."

_I cannot, _Slender replied, looking back at her. He continued, _Were I to take those memories, you would not know why you came looking for me. You would have no memory of the events that took place after that-_

A sob now escaped her, as she leaned her head against his chest. It was hopeless. She would live with what had happened for her entire life, it seemed, unless she was willing to lose all of her memories after that incident. Still, living that way might be better. It might be a little less painful. She was about to say as much when she felt his arms tentatively wrap around her. Her gaze traveled up to the blank face, the one she had been trying to find for so long.

_Living without your memories would be more a punishment than what you live with now. Because these memories of yours are so powerful, they would return to you in time. You would be forced to relive the experience once again. I doubt you would want that, _Slender stated. He wanted to be able to help her, as she had helped him through many of his tribulations. Still, what she had said was true. He could not reverse time. He would have to live with the fact that he was responsible for all of her pain and suffering.

"You're right," Raine replied, trying to regain her composure. "You always are right." She had been able to reveal her most guarded memory to him. Perhaps now it was time to reveal what feelings she had for him. She had thought that he would still have been single when she found him. Raine had thought she would have a chance to be with him, but she had found him married. It had pained her, but she had accepted the fact.

She planned to say something, but was interrupted by a knocking at the door. Slender pulled away from her and went toward the sound of the knocking, leaving her alone in the room with Sohn. She looked down on the baby, wishing that he was her son and not Ellaina's. Still, she could play the part of mommy until Slenderman got Ellaina back.

Slender had only left Raine due to the knocking. It was not someone at the front door, but rather the sliding glass door. The only people who ever came to enter the house this way were people that they knew, so Slender was rather confused. The only ones they knew were unfortunately dead. Well, maybe not. Maybe Ellaina had somehow found her way back. This thought pushed him to move quicker to the door, the tendrils going out ahead of him to open the door.

The one standing on the other side of the door was not Ellaina, but Slender could not say that he wasn't surprised by who was there. It was Totheark, along with his son. How this was possible was beyond him. His adoptive son had been dead.

Totheark slowly made his way into the home and came to sit on the couch. Seeing how Slender was watching him so closely, it was obvious that the man wanted him to say something. He sighed heavily, resting his head back. "You know, dad, you should have waited around a bit longer. I was able to get out of the paralysis about five minutes after you left."

Raine came to sit next to Totheark, having heard who had come into the house. She crossed her arms over her chest and replied, "Yes, Slenderman does have a poor habit of leaving those he cares about behind when they are paralyzed."

_Raine-_Slender started, fully intending to defend himself.

Totheark groaned. "Can't you two argue later? The baby is finally asleep and I have a massive headache. Just, watch a movie or something and leave me alone in peace for a moment."

_As you wish, _Slender replied, forcing himself to sit at the armchair next to the couch. He knew that he should be out trying to find Ellaina, but he could not bring himself to leave just yet. No, he could not leave Raine alone with her emotional pain, and he would not leave until he was certain Totheark was perfectly alright. There was also the fact that he would need to get one of them to watch over Sohn while he was gone. There was just too much that he had to do, but somehow he would get it done.

A/N- As for Slender's son's name, I sort of pulled a Star Wars. If any of you are SW nerds, you will know that Vader's name means father in Dutch. The word "Sohn" means son in German, and seeing as some say Slender is from Germany, I thought it would be suitable. :)


	7. Chapter 7

A/N- Sorry for the late update.

_The partial Sight is quite interesting to her. She can now make out the outlines of her Masters. She now has blurred images to go along with the voices that she has been hearing. The stronger of the two seems to be human. Well, that's what his outline looks like anyways. She could be wrong. Something tells her that she knew another who could look human, but she can not quite remember who this other was. Not that she wants to, the Masters provide her with everything that she needs. The other Master, the one with the less than human voice, does not look human. Well, no, that is not entirely right. Part of him looks human. The thing that sticks out to her the most is his glowing, red eyes. Still, they do not entirely bother her, though his fighting with the stronger Master is rather annoying. What right did he have to question the stronger one? If she could only teach him a lesson, she would. Maybe the human Master would allow her to do so. Drawing blood could be quite fun, she suspected. _

Some hours had passed since Totheark had arrived back at Ellaina's home. The man was currently asleep on the couch, snoring as he was prone to do. Raine was also asleep, leaving the Slenderman alone to his thoughts and the babies of course. Sohn had woken at some point and had teleported to his father's lap. This little incident had startled der Ritter, though he would have thought not much could do so any longer. Apparently, there was more to this father business than he had anticipated. There was also the fact of Totheark's son, who had decided that Slender's tendrils were the greatest thing since sliced bread. The child had been insisting on latching onto the tendrils for the past three hours. So, in a sense, Slendy now had two limpets to deal with.

He really could not complain, though. Someone had to watch the children. He certainly could not ask Totheark to do it. The boy had very nearly died. The boy had nearly died because of his foolishness. Clearly, he was becoming weak or just plain stupid. How had he not been able to sense that his adoptive son had truly been alive? Worse still, he had left Totheark's child. He had even attacked his own son. Clearly, he was not doing a good job at being a father or protector. And then there was what had happened to Raine. Her pain and suffering was a direct result of his stupid actions, and there was no way that he could fix it. Ellaina was gone as well, and he completely blamed himself for that as well. Had he never been selfish, had he never involved himself in her life, she would be perfectly safe. She would be teaching in her university and creating her Slender Game.

He sighed and looked down on his son, who seemed to have developed a fascination with his father's tie. Sohn reached out his pudgy fingers to grab onto it, only to tip over and land against his father's chest. Rather than cry, the baby merely began babbling in his own version of English. The father had to laugh slightly. He could not understand the child. Sohn had only just been born, yet he was functioning as a much older baby. Maybe it had something to do with his nonhuman genetics. Slender wasn't so sure, but he was not going to question it. Seeing as the child was trying to go for the tie again, Slender simply removed it and held the article out to the boy.

Upon receiving the proffered item, Sohn immediately stuck it into his mouth and began sucking on it. Why the child had decided to do this was beyond the Slenderman. He tried to pull the tie away from his boy only for the child to grab onto the tie and hold on for all his worth.

_I won't be getting that back, will I? _Slender questioned the boy. His son merely continued to suck on the tie and look at his father's face. Slendy sighed and lightly cupped the child's face with his hand. Again, he was reminded of just how small the child was, how helpless. How was it that Fate had granted him such a gift? This was not something that he was accustomed to. The normal balance was that Fate would always take away the things that he loved and cherished. Still, he was not about to complain. He had the boy safe and sound.

Totheark's son seemed to be none too happy with all of the attention being focused on Sohn. No, the child also wanted to have the attention of the faceless being. Now, the child was not nearly as smart as Slender's son, but he was intelligent enough to have figured out how to get the attention of the adults. The baby began whimpering slightly, a clear sign that cries would soon follow were he not to be given any attention.

Hearing the sounds coming from the other child, Slender turned his attention to the more human of the two babies. As soon as the baby noticed the Faceless One's attention on him, the small whimpering stopped, to be replaced with giggles. The baby pulled slightly at the tendrils, wanting the adult to perhaps play with him.

_And what do you want? _Slender questioned the child, who only continued to pull at the tendrils in an insistent manner. A stream of baby babble erupted from the child, leaving Slenderman feeling a bit more than confused. He had never had to put up with this sort of thing before. Another issue was that the babies seemed to become smarter when they were around him. It was quite odd. Maybe he was radioactive, or something, due to the chemical. Slen decided not to focus on that fact for the moment.

Now it was Sohn who was feeling left out. The one with no face seemed to be connected to him in some way, though the child did not understand how. All the baby knew was that the one with the white face kept him clean and would feed him. The blank faced man had always given him the most attention, not other little humans. Feeling upset over the whole thing, Sohn teleported himself so he would be sitting in front of Slenderman. Whether or not the baby knew how he could do this was anyone's guess.

Being interrupted certainly wasn't what Totheark's son had planned on. The more human of the two glared at the one with no eyes and started babbling something in baby talk. He also pulled the tie free from Sohn's mouth. This caused Sohn to take up babbling in baby talk as well. In whatever way babies do it, the two were arguing. Over what, Slender had no idea. All he knew was that his limpets were beginning to become rather tiresome. He picked up both of the children, each with a tendril. He pointed a finger at his son. _You need to share your Daddy. _He then turned his attention to Totheark's son, also pointing a finger at the boy. _You must not fight with my son. _

The babies, of course, could not understand that they were in "trouble". No, the boys merely began laughing over being suspended in the air. They thought that this was all a game. It was quite amusing to them, though not so much so for the Slenderman. Still, he could not exactly stay mad at the two laughing children. It seemed that he had somehow become attached to the children. Perhaps, he would become a limpet to the two of them.

**Three years later**

Ellaina still hadn't been found. No one in the house knew what the Domes of Truth could be or where the Point that is Pleasant could be. Slenderman had searched all throughout the area looking for anyone or anything that could know what had become of her. He used all of the favors that were owed to him in a vain attempt to find his missing wife, and still nothing had turned up. It had become a lost cause for Totheark and Raine. They had been able to move on. They said that Slender should do the same, but he did not want to give up on his Little One, despite the fact that she was most likely dead. It was just something inside him said not to give up on hope just yet.

Still, Slender had forced himself to stop looking for her all hours of the day. He had a son to raise and also there was the fact that Totheark constantly asked him to watch his son. It wasn't too much of a bother for Slendy, though he would pretend to be annoyed by the fact. Still, he loved the child so he would take the opportunity to care for the three year old.

Speaking of which, Slender had been asked to watch the children today while Totheark and Raine were at work. Someone had to bring money into the house in an honest way they said. They said that Slender could not continue stealing money from terrified forest goers. Despite what they said, he still did it. This was bad he knew, this slipping back into his old ways, but he could not help it.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of two little boys coming into the family room. They were eagerly discussing the anatomy of a bug they had found in their own terms. Apparently, the bug had to be a stick bug because was skinny like Slendy and looked like a stick. Yes, they compared just about everything to the Slenderman. Again, both thought the being was the greatest thing in the world, perhaps even better than Barney.

"Daddy," Sohn greeted with a large smile and the energy only a small child has, running up to the man, followed quickly by Totheark's son. "Lookie! We got a bug in the yard."

"It's a stick bug," supplied the other small boy.

Slender looked down at the bug that was being held half dead in his son's hand. He sighed and shook his head. _I told you boys not to bring bugs in the house. And that is a roach, dear children_. He plucked said bug from the hand of his son and tossed it out the open window. He turned back to face the children only to find himself being tackled by them. They always did this when they wanted a hug, or to get to play with the tendrils. He laughed slightly, knowing that the two wanted to do just this. Though he knew that he should not indulge them after they broke a rule, Slender could not help himself. Just like when Totheark was young, the two could get away with anything when they did something cute. Both were hoisted into the air as Slen got back up.

_Alright, _Slender began, _so, who wants to play airplane? Do you Sohn?_ he questioned.

"Yeah!" Sohn shouted, smiling brightly.

Had he the ability, Slender would have smiled back. He turned his attention to the other three year old. _And what about you, Alex, do you want to play airplane?_

The other small boy nodded his head vigorously.

_There is one condition though, _Slender stated, knowing that now he could get what he wanted now that the boys wanted to play so badly.

"What's a condition?" Alex questioned. He did not understand the big words that adults would use all of the time. Why couldn't they just use normal words like him and Sohn? Adults were so very strange. He hoped that he would never become one.

Sohn frowned, somehow knowing what a condition was. He had never heard the word, but the knowledge of what the word meant popped into his head. He replied, "A condition is something we gotta do so Daddy will play with us. Right, Daddy?"

_You got it, boy-o, _Slender replied. He still did not know how he had come to speaking this way with the children. He simply wrote it off as something that came with being a father. _All I ask of you smart boys is that you eat lunch after we play. Sound good?_

"Yes!" Alex and Sohn both chimed in before spreading their arms out to make themselves look like airplanes. This was their favorite game to play with the Slenderman. No one else could make airplane this fun, not even Totheark or Raine. Though, the other two were still pretty fun. And, of course, both boys loved the other two adults that lived here. They weren't as cool as Slender, though. They would never let them have cookies before dinner. But, that was their little secret, of course.

A/N- Sorry for the time skip. I just felt like I had to do it. Anyway, has anyone figured out what the Domes of Truth are or where the Point that is Pleasant is at? Your hint is that the location is somewhere in the Southern part of the States. Another hint is that of the red eyed Master. Who can figure this little puzzle out and help Slendy find his Ellaina? ;)


	8. Chapter 8

_She has grown accustomed to the Sight. It allows her to see things that she has never seen before when she was more human. Of course, she does not know that the Sight is slowly robbing her of her humanity. No, she just assumes that it is a good thing, for why would the Masters ever do anything to harm her? Well, the stronger of the two would never try anything. The nonhuman was becoming worse all the time. He was constantly complaining to the other Master that it was time he received his payment for his services. She did not know what this could mean, but it did sound like the nonhuman was second to the other Master. And, if this nonhuman was second, what would that make her in the grand scheme of things? She wanted answers, but at the same time she wanted to keep her Masters happy. The stronger of the two said that someone was coming, that he would be here soon. The stronger, more human told her what she needed to do when this other showed up, and she did not plan to disappoint her Masters in any way, shape, or form. _

The children had finally been coerced into going to sleep on the condition that they could play airplane once again in the morning. Slender knew better than to make deals with the three year olds, but he simply could not help himself. They, very much like a young Totheark, had him eating out of the palms of their hands. He could not help but to internally smile at this. At least someone was able to accept him without question. Then again, school would be starting soon, and young Alex would quickly find that his guardian and friend were not normal. Of course, the child had seen other human beings, but the child had been told that other people in the world also looked like Slender, and the child had believed it.

He sighed slightly, turning out from Sohn's room to go to the family room. He planned to wait up for Totheark and Raine to return from work. He had taken to doing this when he watched the children. Something in him would not allow him to leave these children alone without any form of protection. No, he would not lose them like he had his Ellaina. He would not lose anyone ever again if he could help it.

And, of course, thoughts of loss forced him to think on Ellaina once again. It seemed impossible that she could still be alive any longer. Three years had passed since he had last seen her. What were the odds that she could somehow still be living? They were likely quite bad. Still, she had survived many horrible things before. It was this little shred of hope that he clung to. Sure, Slenderman knew that it was bad of him to do so, but he could not help himself. With all of the bad things he had suffered through, Ellaina had been his bright spot. He could not lose her so easily. But, what was the Point that was Pleasant that contained the Domes of Truth? He was supposed to be intelligent, far smarter than the average human. Yet, he could not figure out this simple little problem. What the hell was wrong with him? Things like these usually just came to him. Knowledge had never been something that he had a problem with. Solving mysteries had been old hat. Why now, then, was he unable to figure out what this could mean?

Needing to get his mind off of things, Slender turned his attention to Ellaina's laptop, which had remained untouched since her disappearance. He used a tendril to pluck the object from the near-by desk and bring it to him. This little thing always seemed to be able to distract Ellaina when she had been upset about one thing or another. Perhaps it could do the same for him? He was not certain, but he was willing to give it a try. Totheark was saying that he did need to become more tech savvy. Slen knew, of course, how to use a computer and the Internet, but he had never seen the need to waste his life searching through the World Wide Web. No, he spent his time searching through the forests for his lost wife and scaring the crap out of campers. Still, maybe the Internet could solve the puzzle of what had happened to Ellaina. It was possible.

He opened the laptop and entered the password that Ellaina had told him. She had insisted that he know it in case she was ever to forget it. That had sparked some playful banter between the two which had ended with her starting a pillow fight, something that had immensely confused him at the time. He had never had a pillow fight. How was he supposed to know what one was when she began whacking him with a pillow. She had, of course, explained it to him, all the while laughing at the apparent confused look he had on his face, so to speak. It was a memory that he liked to think of.

Well, now that the laptop was unlocked, he was greeted with her desktop background image. It was a puppy who was in some sort of chemical lab. The puppy was wearing goggles and holding a flask, about to pour something into a coffee mug. The caption above the puppy said "I have no idea what I'm doing." Slender laughed slightly at the image, remembering how Ellaina had explained to him that she and chemistry were mortal enemies and how the class subject wanted to devour her soul and send her to the lowest pit of hell. Slender had simply replied that she was being overly dramatic.

_Alright, little puppy, _Slender commented to the screen, _let's see if I can remember how to get onto the Internet. _He honestly did not know why he was talking to a computer screen. The only explanation he could surmise was that he was going insane. That seemed about right to him. After searching over the screen and finally finding the little Internet Explorer icon, Slender found himself on Ellaina's home page, Google. He had heard that this Google site had all of the information that one could ever need. Maybe now he could figure out what had happened to Ellaina, or at the very least where she had been taken to.

He planned on searching the phrase "Point that is Pleasant" only to be interrupted by Sohn teleporting into the room. This was something that Slender knew he should get used to, but the boy's abilities still surprised him. He was used to being the only one able to teleport in this household. It was so odd to him.

Forcing his thoughts away for the moment, Slender focused on the small boy, who had climbed up onto the couch to sit beside his daddy. The father of said boy lightly pet him on the head, wishing that the boy could see his internal smile. _And what are you doing up so late? _he questioned, knowing that he should send the boy straight back to his room, but not wanting to.

The small boy sniffled slightly. "I want to meet Mommy. Where is she? Alex says that his Mommy died and got to go to Heaven. I don't want Mommy dead, though. I wanna meet her."

_Questions like this late at night, _Slender muttered to himself, hoping that his son would not pick up on this statement. He lightly brushed some hair out of the boy's face. How was he supposed to explain that he knew nothing of his mother's condition? Well, perhaps a half truth would be best for the boy at the moment. It might let the child rest easier. _Well, Mommy had to go visit someone in a place called the Point that is Pleasant. _

Sohn stared up at his father and furrowed his brow slightly. "The Point that is Pleasant? Don't you mean Point Pleasant?" He could not understand why Daddy would give the location a different name than what it was normally called. Maybe Alex was right. Maybe adults really were weird and become one would be no fun. Hmm, maybe going to Neverland would be a better idea.

Things seemed to freeze for a moment in the Slenderman's mind. His little son had just managed to solve the puzzle he had been trying to solve for three years in a matter of moments. Now it all made sense. The Point that is Pleasant is Point Pleasant, West Virginia. The Domes of Truth referred to the domes and the TNT factory. And he most certainly knew of the red eyed beast that lived in that place, in that hole. Oh, Slen would make that bastard pay for harming his Ellaina and taking her away for all of this time. Were he not stuck babysitting; he would already be on his way to destroy the one who had taken his wife and the mother to his child.

"Daddy?" the little boy questioned, sensing that his father was upset about something. This ability to sense other people's emotions was new to him, and he had been meaning to ask his father about it. Still, it could be that Daddy was mad at him for asking about Mommy, so the boy decided not to say anything about the ability for the moment.

Snapping back from his thoughts, Slender looked down on the boy, who looked to be quite nervous about something. It probably had something to do with the fact that his father was not saying anything. The boy likely thought that something was wrong. Indeed, something was wrong, but it was not Sohn's fault. _I think that it is time for you to go to bed. Mommy will be home soon, Sohn. I will be going to pick her up quite soon. You will need to stay with Auntie Raine and Uncle Totheark. You'll get to hang out with Alex. Sound like fun?_

The little boy's face lit up. "Yeah it does! I'll get to play and meet Mommy." Sohn then hugged his father, tightly burying his face into the man's chest. Muffled, the boy stated, "I love you Daddy."

Any anger that had been left in the entity left him as he felt his heart swell with happiness and pride. This little creation was all his and the boy loved him on top of it. Slender hugged the boy back, quietly returning Sohn's sentiment. He knew that he needed to get Ellaina back now more than ever. He could not be so selfish as to not share this gift from Fate. She needed to know her son, and the little one who had now fallen asleep in his arms deserved to know his mother. And know her, Sohn would. Come morning, the Point that is Pleasant would not be so _pleasant _any longer. If a bloodbath was needed to get what was his back, so be it. No matter what the cost, he would see his Ellaina again and he would do his upmost to save her from the red-eyed monster who had taken her. No cryptid was about to lay claim to his Little One.

A/N- Who knows who the cryptid from Point Pleasant, WV is?


	9. Chapter 9

_She knows that someone will be coming to visit her today. She does not know who this person could be but the Masters say that she has met this person before and that she should hate this person with all of her heart. Well, who is she to question her Masters? They make the rules around here, though the weaker of the two is starting to become more trouble than he is worth. The stronger, the more human-looking Master, tells her that she may be of some help to him where this other Master is concerned. She will more than gladly help. Finally, she will get to taste her first blood. And after that, she will be ready to fulfill her task of taking down the One who her Master has told her of. _

Patience is a virtue, or so it has been said. Some say that those who can show patience are better people. Well, Slenderman supposed that he did not fall into that category of being a better person, for he most certainly was not patient in the least. Since discovering Ellaina's location, he had been itching at the chance to teleport away to her location. Still, he could not do so because no one was home to watch the children. He had never thought that children could so easily get in the way of what he needed to do. He felt trapped in the home, trapped to his own mind in thinking about what he would do if he found his Ellaina.

The Internet had proved to be somewhat distracting for him in the least. He had played all sorts of games and had even stumbled upon something that showed various funny pictures. The humor of said pictures had been entertaining for a little while until thoughts forced their ways into his head. It was an annoying quality that he possessed, this constant thinking. Slender always internally complained about how long humans would take in deciding on something or thinking some new idea up, yet he did very much so the same thing. And, here he was, doing it again. He was thinking about _thinking_. Clearly, he was losing his mind.

It was becoming quite late now, and Slender had to wonder where in the hell his wayward adopted son and Raine were. True, it was a Friday, but they would usually inform him when they planned to spend the night out partying. He had yet to hear a word from them on his cell phone. Yes, they had insisted that he have one. Apparently, everyone in the world had one. This fact could be proven wrong, of course, with a simple trip to a random poor village, but Slen had decided to indulge the humans of his life. Why not, he figured. The thing really did no harm, outside of the occasional annoyance from telemarketers. He made a point not to be the first one to contact them, though. Tonight, though, he might need to make an exception.

As he was about to figure out how to send a text message, little Alex made his way into the family room. The small boy climbed up onto the couch and plopped himself down next to the Slenderman. The child yawned slightly before turning his sleepy eyes up to the faceless man, who seemed curious as to why he was here. The boy smiled slightly before snuggling up to the entity and attempting to go back to sleep.

_Alex, what do you think you're doing? _Slen questioned, lightly pushing the boy away from him so the child would be sitting upright. He still could not understand the sleeping habits of humans. The old ones would be in bed by early evening, children late at night. They all would wake at various times. So, why would this three year old be up at such an ungodly hour?

Alex sighed slightly. "I can't sleep, Uncle Slendy. Daddy will usually stay in the room until I fall asleep or sometimes he'll tell me a story. Will you tell me a story? Or, we could stay up and talk about cool stuff until I fall asleep."

Where have I heard that before? Slender thought to himself. The child before him was every bit as much his father as he was his mother. It was clear that this child was doomed to be a nerd, not that bad of a thing in all reality. So, now it was his job to tell a story that a three year old would like. It certainly was a good thing that Anne had stayed up all night with him to teach him of the Wonderful World of Disney. One of these days he would really need to go to Florida to visit Disney with his son.

Turning his attention back to the small boy, Slender had a wonderful idea for what story he could tell the boy. It was more so a boy story than the other Disney films after all. _Alright, I suppose that I may have one story that I can tell you, but you must go to sleep after it is over. Deal? _He held his hand out to the boy, knowing that the child liked to be treated as if he were an adult.

Alex smiled brightly and took the other's hand to give it a shake. "Well, what story are you gonna tell me? It has to be a good one!"

_Oh, you don't think your Uncle Slendy would tell you a boring story do you? _Slen questioned, feigning that the comment from Alex had hurt his feelings in some way. Hearing the boy quickly protest that he didn't mean anything by it, Slender internally smiled and laughed slightly. He could not understand why these children liked him so much. Weren't little kids supposed to be afraid of scary looking monsters? Then again, did he really consider himself a monster? Shaking his head to force the thoughts away, the entity brought his attention to the boy. _Alright, my young man, I shall tell you a story about a magic lamp and how it changed the course of one man's life. Once upon a time…_

"We should have let him know that we were going out," Raine was complaining as she and Totheark pulled up in their shared car to the driveway to Ellaina's home.

Totheark sighed and rolled his eyes as he put the car into park and turned the vehicle off. She was always nagging him. It was like she was his bloody wife. How Slenderman put up with this woman was beyond him. And, according to the both of them, he had been good friends with Raine. He had no memory of this, nor did he wish to remember it. Finally, he responded, "Look, Raine, he is not going to care that he had to spend a night with the boys. He loves the kids. Besides, what else does he have to do, search for Ell? She's gone and the sooner he realizes that, the better he'll be."

"Not that again," Raine replied as she followed after the man to the front door. "You know that you two will only end up arguing if you bring it up. Then Slen will teleport away and we won't see him again for a week. You know how much that upsets the children."

"Would you stop your nagging, woman? You sound like some old hag of a wife," Totheark countered while opening the door.

Raine crossed her arms over her chest and forced her way by him. "You know, most people get happy when they're drunk. You just turn into a jerk." She walked through the front room and into the family room, where she found Slenderman on the couch, Alex cuddled next to him. The youth was sound asleep. She could not help but to smile at the scene. Still, it always disturbed her a bit, not knowing if Slenderman was awake or asleep. There was no way of telling.

Well, this fact was quickly shown to her when Totheark came into the room to find the sight. He did not find this to be cute at all. In fact, he found it to be a horrible display of authority. "The boy should be in bed where he belongs. What the hell is going on?" he questioned loudly.

His comment startled Alex enough to wake him up, along with the Slenderman, who had only just managed to doze off. He could not remember the last time that he had been able to get any sort of sleep, and it had just been rudely interrupted. He glared up at his adoptive son, all the while trying to calm the startled Alex through use of the tendrils. _I see that you decided to come home. You could have paid me the courtesy of a call._

"I tried to tell him that," Raine muttered, turning to glare at the man standing next to her. "He refused to listen. He thinks that beer made it so-"

Totheark was intoxicated, plain and simple, so he was not entirely in control of his actions. All he knew was that someone was throwing him under the bus and that he did not like it. No, he did not like it one little bit. He turned to face the source of his agitation and took a swing, managing to get a pretty good hit in.

While Slender could take people being rude to him, he would not take violence against women in front of him. He was on his feet and in between the two without a second thought. If the boy tried to strike Raine again, he would be met with a far stronger opponent. Alex was now crying, not understanding what was going on. This could quickly escalate out of control. _Totheark, you need to calm yourself. You are drunk. Now, you are in front of your son, so before you do something you will regret, leave the room._

Totheark laughed, not caring too much what anyone else thought. He did not notice that little Sohn had also entered the room to see what was going on. All he saw was der Ritter in front of him, another opponent. "Look, _Daddy_, the only thing I regret is looking for your precious little Ellaina. Guess what? She's dead. Move on and move out. I don't want my son growing up like I did, around monsters instead of humans."

It had been some time since he had last allowed anger to govern his actions, but the Slenderman could not control himself. The tendrils lashed out, almost on their own whim rather than by his control, and crushed Totheark tightly to the wall. This would not kill the human, but it would do some damage. The nonhuman came to stand in front of the groaning human. _Were it not for this monster in your life, dear boy, you would have met a Fate worse than my own. You would be a monster as well, or perhaps dead. But, fine, you do not wish me in your life. It shall be as you wish, but this is not your home. You are not welcome here. Take your precious human boy and leave._ He dropped the one he had once considered son to the ground and glared down on him. It would be so very easy just to allow for his anger to rule him, to slip back into old ways, but Slender would not allow himself that. He turned away from the situation to face Raine, who was watching silently with tears in her eyes. _Are you alright?_

She did not know what to make of this situation. Everything was coming undone. Those who loved one another were being broken up all because of one little argument. The children were the worse off, trying to cling to one another while Totheark dragged his boy away. Once freeing his child, he stormed out, yelling something rude behind him as he left. The woman sank to her knees, sobbing. This was not what she had expected to happen. She forced herself to look up onto the Slenderman, knowing that he wanted her answer. What she had not expected was for him to come kneel beside her. She did not expect him to heal her of her injury with a simple kiss.

"Slen?" she questioned, pulling away from him after she felt the pain leave her.

Now was the time to get a move on, Slenderman knew. He had to go to Ellaina. Something in this life had to start making sense again. He turned his attentions to the woman in front of him, knowing that what he was about to sat would hurt her. He knew what she felt for him, and he did regret to some extent that he would not be able to return the feelings. _Raine, I know that Ellaina is alive and I know where she is. It's Point Pleasant; that's the answer to the mystery. Please, stay to watch over Sohn. I need to go to her and save her. Please, will you do this for me?_

Another barb to her heart, but Raine knew better than to say anything about this. She looked over to the sobbing boy and then back to Slender. She gave a slight nod before the man in front of her moved away from her to go and explain to his son what was happening. As his presence left the room, Raine allowed a small cry to escape her lips. Her last chance to tell him of her feelings had just teleported out of the room, and she had no knowledge of this. If she had only known that this would be the last time she would have seen him, perhaps she would have told him the truth of her feelings.

A/N- Don't you all love foreshadowing? I most certainly do. Anyways, who knows what the monster is that is waiting in West Virginia for our Slenderman?


	10. Chapter 10

A/N- Sorry about not updating right away! College has been busy with exams, projects, speeches, homework, and other junk. Without further ado, here's the next chapter. And thumbs up to the person who knew what the monster is.

_Her Master most certainly was right. The taste of blood is something that is most delicious, especially when it is not human. She had practice on humans as well. Oh yes, while waiting for her One the Master has allowed her to take part in killing humans who come to close to the Domes. No one would ever blame her for such a thing, for murder. No, that blame will fall upon the nonhuman Master, who is quite nearly dead by this point. Her true Master says to let the other die a slow and painful death, to let him bleed out. This is not what she would have chosen to do, but who was she to question the Master? Soon, very soon, she would drink the blood of a nonhuman whose blood was like an elixir to life. It would only be a matter of hours now until He would show himself. _

Leaving Sohn behind was something that Slenderman thought would not bother him. He had lived the majority of his life on his own. He was wrong. He missed the boy so very much. Clearly, living amongst humans had spoiled him. He liked being around them now. Their company was enjoyable. It did irk him to some extent. Most thought him to be a killing machine. What would the world think if they knew der Ritter had become a weak, family man? It likely would not end that well for him. He would be a laughing stock of the Internet world.

Still, this was not where the focus of his thoughts was. No, Slenderman was more set on trying to find his Ellaina so he could return home to his son. Maybe, upon returning, he could even work things out with Totheark as well. They most certainly had not parted on good terms. The boy had always been like a son to him. They would need to work something out, eventually. Right now though, his task was to find the Domes, or the TNT factory as it was known as.

It had been quite some time since Slender had found himself in Point Pleasant, West Virginia. If he was right, the last time he had been here was during the Silver Bridge Collapse. How odd it was to be coming back here, teleporting to the exact location of where the original Bridge had come down. The last time he was here, he had helped to hide the one who took the blame for the incident. And now, now, he had come to find that the red-eyed beast had taken his Ellaina. What purpose was there in taking the woman? That red eyed monster knew how to contact him if the need be. There was no need to go through all of this trouble just to get his attention. It was not as if the monster had stuck to exile since the Collapse. No, the beast could not resist trying to help people in other disasters, despite knowing that he would only take the blame.

Slen knew full well that the red-eyed beast could not help it though. It was in the monster's nature to want to help the humans, though Slender could not understand why. The humans merely screamed in terror at the sight of their kind. There really was no point in trying to help them out. Still, he had managed to be accepted by Ellaina. Perhaps that was all Red Eyes wanted. It made no difference to der Ritter though. The other entity had taken his Little One, and he most certainly planned on making him pay for it.

Teleporting to the old TNT factory took no effort on the Slenderman's part. All he had to do now was pick out the right Dome where his Ellaina was being hidden. It was likely that it was one of the broken down ones where the humans rarely explored. Scanning the area, Slender made his way into the near-by woods, sensing life coming from a tucked-away Dome. Whatever this life source was, it most certainly was weak. If it were his Ellaina in a weakened state, Slenderman certainly intended on making Red Eyes pay for it. Well, assuming that Red Eyes was responsible for the damage. But, who else would be willing to harm his Little One?

_She knew that her job was to hide in the shadows and watch the trap that was the Dome, but she was having quite the hard time resisting it. Seeing this new creature, this blank-faced monster, was so intriguing to her. Apparently, this was the One that she knew in some way, shape, or form. The lack of face did ring a bell, though she did not know from where. For now, though, she would remain good and let the plan follow through. She could not wait to taste the blood of this nonhuman. _

Slender paused outside of the Dome's entrance, sensing something. It was familiar, yet it was new in some way to him. It seemed to be a human, but there was something different about the inside Fibers of this human. The Fibers told the tale of each human, whether each had anything special to them or if they were just plain and simple. This _thing _that he could sense was not normal. Its Fibers had been altered in some way by an outside force. This thing was like him in some ways, but it was different at the same time. Altered Fibers would become a part of the human. This thing he was sensing, its Fibers seemed to be waiting to be changed again. Clearly, there was more things nonhuman in these woods than just him.

Smiling darkly internally to himself, Slen turned his back on the entrance to the forgotten Dome. He was not about to let some new cryptid frighten him off like some weak underling. Projecting his mental voice, he stated simply, _I have business here, and it is not with you. I suggest you leave, lest you wish a sticky end._ That said, Slender turned and entered the Dome, ready to take on Red Eyes and get his Ellaina back. Three years was really too long to be living without her.

_That voice. That damned mental voice! She most certainly remembered who the blank faced man was now. He had ruined her life, made her into something she was not. He had made her into a creature of the night, forced to live apart from her human world in order to keep him safe. What the Master said was true. He had used her. She did have a reason to kill him. It took all of her control not to abandon the plan and simply lunge at her prey now. Still, she could wait. There was plenty of fun in store for her Ritter soon enough. Soon enough. She could not repress her near-giddy, though quiet, laugh. _

The inside of this Dome was not something pleasing or pleasant. It most certainly did not adhere to the town's name. Everything was covered in black mold, from the floor to the ceilings. And everything was shrouded in darkness. There was no way to see as much as three feet in front of one's self.

Still, this darkness presented no problem to der Ritter. He could make out two glowing, red orbs set in just about the center of the room. There was only one being who this could be, so there was no reason to believe there was any reason to fear. Slender slowly made his way toward the glowing lights, fully ready to take on the beast to get his Ellaina back. Odd though, that the other had yet to move to greet him, or to fight.

When he was standing in front of these glowing orbs, Slender was beginning to think that something was perhaps wrong. It was unusual for this other not to greet him in some way. This other had always tried to be polite. It seemed that the niceties were to be ignored in this situation. As that was the case, Slender reached out his hand to grip the other's chin, to force the red orbs, the red eyes, to stare into his blank face.

_Long time no see, Mothy, _Slender stated, making his voice sound calm and collected, though his internal emotions were anything but. He was ready to tear this monster apart for taking his Ellaina away from him. Again, what right did this beast have to take what was not his?

The flesh in Slender's grip seemed to change, seemed to become more human. The red glow disappeared. A slight moan came from this other as the flesh became more human for a slight moment. Still, this human state was not lasting long for the other. Between gasped breaths, Mothy managed to reply in that iconic electronic voice he possessed, "Do not call me that, Slenderman."

Slender growled slightly, wanting nothing more than to simply allow his tendrils to rip into the flesh of this cryptid. He did allow the tendrils to make their way over the flesh of the other, if only to show what his intentions for this visit were. _I will call you whatever I damn well please, Mothman. You have someone-_ He stopped abruptly, finding that there was something decidedly wrong here. The tendrils had found…metal embedded into the thin flesh of the Mothman's wings. As the tendrils continued their investigation, it was found that the cryptid was hanging suspended by this metal. Large hooks connected to chains kept this cryptid captured.

Any anger he felt dripped away. It seemed that Mothman was not behind what was going on here in Point Pleasant. Just like all of the other humans, Slender too had blamed this creature for a random occurrence. His focus came fully onto the cryptid when the flesh in his hand became inhuman again, when those red eyes reappeared, casting his blank face in an eerie glow.

_Who did this to you? _Slender questioned, allowing his tendrils to further inspect the damage to the one in front of him. More hooked chains were imbedded into the Mothman's flesh. There were also signs of torture, as if someone had slowly been stripping away the flesh and…consuming it? Something was wrong here. Something did not add up. There was an outside force at work here. It seemed that it was not the Mothman who had taken his Ellaina. But, who did?

Trying to force air into his battered body, the Mothman forced himself to answer der Ritter's questions and allow for the tendrils to explore his body. In all honesty the lithe touch was the most comfortable thing he had felt in far too long. Perhaps if they acted quickly, he could be released and they could escape his Deal Maker and his Demy-On. He was about to answer when his senses picked up on the ones he was trying to avoid. The red eyes suddenly bored into that blank face, becoming all the more brighter as he saw a glimpse of what the future held for the Slenderman, the urgent need to protect this person throwing all thoughts of himself out the window. "You need to teleport out of here, Slendy. Do it now and leave me. Do not come back!"

_What are you talking about? _Slender questioned, tilting his head to the side slightly. His attention had been solely on the one in front of him, so he did not sense the other presences until it was far too late. In his moment of inattentiveness, the one who had been promised to have revenge took her chance and used her large-bladed weapon. Slender did not realize what had happened until a searing pain ripped through his back as light suddenly flooded the room.

The pain forced him to fall to the ground in a heap, the world spinning. Slenderman landed on something, though he did not know what. It was not until he got a good look at the spastically moving _things _did he realize what they were exactly. His tendrils. The sight of them, of their freed selves and the black blood pooling around him, frightened him more than he thought possible. The pain, though, was something he could not describe. This pain irradiated all rational thought. It was too much to even allow him to scream out. All he could do was writhe in pain as he watched the spike-heel, black, boots of his presumed attacker approached him.

"_Slenderman, Slenderman, all the children try to run," _a voice began singing. It was a familiar voice to der Ritter, though it seemed to be altered in some way, more demonic. As he forced himself to search this being, he came to realize that this was the same one from the woods, the one with the altered Fibers. The voice continued, _"Slenderman, Slenderman, to him its part of the fun." _The sing song of the voice stopped. _"His branching arms are no longer for collecting. And, why don't we make that face capable of _expressing."

A gasp escaped Slender with the statement of that last word, as the heels came to stand before him. That last word was not demonic. It was purely and utterly human. Weakness prevented him from being able to look up onto the face of his attacker, but he need not do so. He knew her voice. He knew her voice and it pained him to know the voice. As the woman took his blank face and forced him to look into her yellow tinged, red rimmed eyes as she carved a grotesque smile into his face, all der Ritter could do was stare at her in silent physical and emotional agony.

His attacker, his now-tormentor, was the one that he had befriended. She was the one who he had saved from harm on numerous occasions. His tormentor was the one he had fallen in love with. She was the one he had searched three years for. His tormentor was the mother to his child. She was his Little One. She was his now-fallen Ellaina.

A/N- I do not own the song that Ellaina was singing. Mothman-Google him. Do it! Do it now! lol


	11. Chapter 11

A/N- Yeah, I figured that I should update right away or I might get killed by one of my reviewers.

This was not what Mothy had been expecting when the Slenderman showed up. He knew that the Deal Maker and his little Demy-On wanted to draw the entity here. He had never been told, though, what the purpose of bringing Slendy here was. It seemed that the Deal Maker, the real Master, had something against the Slenderman or at the very least that he wanted him dead. This did not make sense, though. For as long as Mothman had known the Deal Maker, he had never once been far out of Point Pleasant. Then again, he had known the Demy-On's home town well enough to know the roads that would lead directly to her hospital.

What a mistake it had been to try and deal with this Master. All he had gotten out of this deal was torture. He had never gotten paid for bringing the once human and now Demy-On to this place. It was always the same for him; try to make a deal and get dumped on in the end. Perhaps all the other nonhumans were right. Maybe trying to better one's self, make oneself more human, was a futile effort that should be avoided. Still, he insisted on clinging to his little shred of hope that he could one day perhaps have his entire humanity back.

Still, this could not be his focus. Mothy knew that he had to do something to help the entity that was being tortured in front of him. The little Demy-On was not saying anything to her prey, merely slicing the flesh at random areas and watching the blood flow. How many days had she done the exact same thing to him? This simply was not right. He could sense that the two were connected in some way, and seeing as Slender was not trying to fight her, it had to be a strong connection. Something had to be done, though. Slen was losing too much blood and far too quickly.

"Fight back," he growled down at the Slenderman, letting his voice come out as an inhuman growl. If everyone else here was going to act inhuman, why shouldn't he? There was no point in trying to act human in this situation. Seeing as the Tall One merely stayed where he was, the Mothman began fighting against the chains which bound him. So be it if he did irreparable damage to his body and wings. All he needed was the ability to get free and run from this place. Still fighting the hooked chains, he growled again to the other nonhuman, "Damn you, Slenderman. Fight back!"

_Fight back? _Slen questioned quietly, his mind dark what with all of the pain he was feeling. His body was growing numb as his attacker continued with her knife work across his flesh. The suit coat had already been ripped away and the white dress shirt underneath was now simply bloody rags hanging limply against his body. He was being told to fight back against his opponent, but how could he? This was his wife, the one he loved. He did not wish to see fear in her eyes ever again. Then again, these were not quite _her _eyes, now were they? She had been changed since he had last seen her.

She was no longer his Ellaina. She had become something else, what with her altered Fibers and near-demonic eyes. Whatever she was, she was no longer human. This is what Slender told himself, what he used as an excuse, to try and push her away from him. But, he had lost so much blood. How weak his body had become as a result of her onslaught. He was able to hold her at bay, though he was not certain that he could fight her off. It seemed that whatever had been done to her had affected her physical body as well, making her far stronger than he remembered.

The other presence who had been watching from the shadows was beginning to become annoyed with the whole situation. His little creation, his little Demy-On, was not doing her job as she had been told. She had been instructed to kill this Slenderman, not just torture him. And now, that blasted _bug _was getting in the way of things. He should have just squashed him when the chance had presented itself, but no he had allowed his pet to play with the red-eyed beast. This other, the Master, knew that it was time for him to intervene and push things along. He could not be the one to kill the Slenderman, if his plan were to work out properly. The one to kill him had to be the little former human, the one who's Fibers he had altered.

The Master was about to make himself known when his captured prey, his pet's plaything, suddenly broke free from the chained bindings. The Master had never suspected that the Moth would be willing to go through self-mutilation in order to save a friend. What a weak quality. He had known from the start that using this cryptid was a bad idea. There were so many others that he could have used, but he had chosen this one because it possessed intelligence. It was a mistake that the Master would not allow himself to make again.

Pain was something that the Mothman was not entirely used to, so the burning pain where the hooks had ripped free from his body made his world spin. Still, he could not very well focus on this for the moment. He had to get to the Slenderman before the Deal Maker could stop him. He knew that he and Slender needed to escape this place here and now or it would be the end of them, a very bloody end of them.

Using his own powers, he altered the electricity, causing it to spark violently around the Master before cutting out. The Dome was now shrouded in darkness, the only source of light coming from Red Eyes. Not for the first time, he wished that his eyes were normal, but he did not allow himself to focus on that for the moment. He moved with an inhuman grace and speed to the side of the Slenderman. He grabbed the once human by her collar and tossed her-very much like a ragdoll-off of the Slenderman. The Mothman forced Slender to his feet and began dragging the other out of the old abandoned Dome. They needed to escape before the Master had the chance to capture them. If he did there would be no escaping his wrath. Both would be dead in a matter of seconds.

The loss of blood had altered his perception, so Slen was not entirely certain what was going on at the moment. All he knew was that someone was pulling him up from the ground, out of his pool of blood, and leading him seemingly out of the Dome. But, where were they going? What about Ellaina? He had come here to save her, hadn't he? Slen was not so sure any longer, but he followed whoever was leading him away from the pain. He knew that he was being lead quickly through the woods, and he knew that the woods were a safe place. He could relax here. Finally, the Slenderman allowed darkness to take his mind.

Mothman grunted, feeling the Slenderman suddenly drop from his guiding arm. The cryptid looked back to find that his companion had collapsed on the forest floor. This was not what he had planned in trying to escape from the others. There was also the fact that a blizzard had started up, making traveling all the more difficult. Now was not the time to be taking a nap. He came back to the nonhuman, trying to get the battered man to wake up and get to his feet. It seemed to be an utterly futile effort.

"_Oh where, or where, has my Slenderman gone? Oh where, oh where could he be?" _a voice sang out from somewhere else in the woods. It would not take a genius to figure out whom this feminine, demonic voice belonged to. Ellaina was following them, and growing closer it seemed.

"Mist," Mothman cursed in some language he had once picked up. Seeing as his companion was not about to awaken any time soon, the cryptid picked up the other and began moving them as quickly as he could through the woods. They needed to get far away and quickly. Seeing as Slender would not be able to teleport them away, the only option they had seemed to be flight. That was something that Mothy knew would not be fun, but what choice did he have? If they wished to escape in one piece, he would have to sacrifice his own comfort.

Without more thought on the matter, the Mothman took to the skies, hoping that his battered wings could support his weight and get them to the desired location without being detected by the enemies. If the citizens of the town were to see him, so be it. A sighting would do well for their economy and the tourist industry. What an odd thought that was. He was running for his life from two demonic forces and all he could think on was the economy. He was strange, indeed.

Slenderman woke some time later, not entirely knowing where he was. He knew, however, that something bad must have happened to him if the pain in his body was anything to go by. Groaning, he forced himself to sit up, only now realizing that he was lying in an old bed. He brought his hands up to his face, wanting to try and stimulate himself into a wakeful state. Feeling a shock of pain when his hands brushed over damaged tissue, Slen quickly pulled his hands back. There was black blood all over his hands, and he could not understand why. Had the chemical tried to kill him again? No, this felt different than that.

The sound of a door opening took Slender's attention. He forced himself to his feet, preparing to fight whatever might come in. He planned to use the tendrils to defend himself, but he found that they…were not there. They were gone. This finding sent him quite nearly into shock. He fell back onto the bed into a defeated sitting position. He barely registered the Mothman entering the room.

"You have woken," the cryptid stated while his human eyes went to looking the other up and down. He had managed to remove the rag that was once a shirt from the Slenderman, clean the wounds, and bandage them to the best of his ability. The face had been left alone, for Mothy had not been certain how to care for that area, or to care for it at all.

Slender tried to focus on this other. It took a moment, but he eventually recognized the human form of the Mothman, Indrid Cold. It had been quite some time since he had last seen the human form of this being. It had been since the collapse of the Silver Bridge, when he had allowed one human called John Klein see this form. _What happened to me? _The need to know was overpowering everything. He could vaguely remember someone attacking him, but who? Who had the power to beat him and injure him so severely?

Indrid sighed, crossing his arms over his chest. "You came searching for the human and found her replacement, the Demy-On." He did not want to be the one to tell him of what had happened. It had been found, through the Slenderman's mumblings, that the former human was his wife. It was not what the Mothman had expected. Then again, he had not expected to be where they were. Neither had the owner of this home, but that was another matter entirely.

_Demy-On? Indrid, Mothman, whatever I am to call you, do try to make sense. _Slen questioned, not understanding. It was a term that he had either never encountered or had forgotten. It seemed that bits and pieces of his memory were evading him, and that was something that he did not like in the least. He felt as though he were losing control of himself.

This would not end well, Indrid knew. Resigning to just put all of the facts on the line, he began his explanation, "A Demy-On is a human who is becoming demonic due to being from Hell. It may be that the Devil wants the human or that the Hell-bound being simply wants to have some fun. In this case I would believe that it is a bit of both. You've no memory of what happened?"

Slender took in the new information. He did not remember a thing. There were blurry images swimming through his head, but nothing was coherent. The entity forced himself to his feet and came to stand before the now-human Mothman, Indrid. The need to know what was happening drove the Slenderman on, making him reach out to take the other's hand in his own. Vision of what happened swam through his head.

There was no way for Indrid to filter out any of the images that the Slenderman was pulling from him. He had not suspected that Slen would do this, so he had not been prepared. Most times, he could show others his visions-be them past or future-in snippets, what he wanted to be shown. Still, even in his weakened state, the Slenderman was able to overpower his filtering and see everything.

Pulling back suddenly, his breath harsh again, Slender turned away from his companion. _I do not believe this to be the truth. Why show me what is fake? _He turned suddenly back to face the other, wanting to deny what he had seen. The look in the other's eyes left no room for argument. The truth was being shown, it seemed. He looked down to the floor, not knowing what to say.

"You do know that the only way to deal with a demon is to-" Indrid began.

_Do not say it, Indrid. I know full well. I will not kill her. I can change her back, _Slender replied, trying to force determination into his voice rather than utter defeat. There was no way to change back one who was becoming a demon, he knew somehow. Damn his knowledge. He could prove this inborn fact wrong. He had to. He could not give up on her. _I will go to her now. I-_

Indrid grabbed the other and gave the slightest push, causing Slen to lose his balance and quite nearly topple to the ground. He would have, had Mothy not steadied him at the last moment. "You are in no stable condition to fight. You have been in a near coma for a month. Klein was beginning to believe you had passed on."

Slender growled slightly, irked that the cryptid was right on this matter. He would need to rebuild his strength and powers and somehow figure out how to fight without the tendrils. Then again, he could probably make the chemical. Wait no; he would not need to make it at all. His hand went into his pocket, pulling out the small vial his departed mother had left behind. He always kept this with him. He had a way to fix himself, though he knew it would be painful.

Pocketing the vial once again, Slen looked back onto the human face of the Mothman. The human side of the being was quite handsome. It was odd that the man had never found someone he could connect to. Even he, blank face and all, had managed to find someone. He looked the man over before bringing his nonexistent eyes over his own body. He still wore the same dress slacks, but now he was in a ridiculous sports jersey, supporting some sort of team called the Rangers.

Then it came to him, what his companion had said. He looked up to the Mothman, wishing that the other could see his amused internal smile. _I am most certain that your old friend, John Klein, was happy to see you again, especially with a friend._

Ah, there it was. Slender was slowly falling back to his normal self, Indrid surmised. It would not take long for the man to heal. "Oh yes, he was most pleasantly surprised to see me. Why do you not go and meet him? I will take you to him."

_Allow me, _Slender replied, taking the other's arm. He managed to teleport them into the kitchen where he sensed the presence of a human. This little trick took too much effort on his part, Slen realized rather quickly. He would need to build up his strength, but for now he could greet the terrified man who looked about ready to die of fright from his and Indrid's sudden appearance.

Indrid smiled slightly at his fearful, human host. "I do hope that we did not scare you too much. I tried to tell him not to teleport, but he did not give me the chance."

Slen laughed slightly. _Are you always so prim and proper, my dear Mothy?_

Eyes flashing red, the other retorted, "I told you not to call me that."

_Come now, Mothy, you are scaring the host of this home. _Slender turned his attention fully to the human now. The man did not seem all that special, but there was something about him that made Slen want to trust him. Odd, very few humans possessed this quality. Perhaps this was why _Mothy _was willing to stay with him. It was something he could think on later. He made his way to stand before the man, and offered his hand. It was a sign of…something. Slender could not entirely remember. Ellaina had told him. Was it a greeting? And speaking of greetings, Slenderman finally stated, _You have no reason to fear me, human. You have housed me and therefore have earned my protection. I am what you humans call der Ritter. der Groβman. I am the Slenderman. It is a pleasure to meet you, John Klein. _

John Klein, the owner of the house, the host to the two entities, promptly passed out.

A/N- I do not own John Klein. He comes from the movie/book _The Mothman Prophecies. _


	12. Chapter 12

A/N- Sorry for my not updating this story. Here is the next chapter.

"Well, now look what you did," Indrid stated, gesturing to the prone man on the kitchen floor. Seeing as his friend was not about to help their guest, the cryptid groaned in annoyance and picked the man up, slinging said man over his shoulder. The human-cryptid looked to his so-called friend. "Try not to disturb anything else in the house. It was hard enough getting him to let us even stay here." That said, he left the room. He planned on depositing the human in the family room.

Had he eyes Slender would have rolled them. How irritating it was to be treated like a child, and by Indrid of all people. Still, he would take the cryptid's words to heart. If he were to regain his strength, he would need somewhere to hide where Ellaina and her demonic Master could not find him. But…what was he to do after he did heal? Was the best plan to go and try and take his Little One back from the demon and hope she would go back to normal? Or, would the better plan be to simply…kill her? That was the last thing that he wanted to do, but if he had no other choice, then perhaps he would have to end up taking her life.

These thoughts of death and demons were quickly interrupted for the Slenderman when the backdoor opened and was slammed loudly. A small child came racing into the kitchen, yelling that she was home from school. The child, apparently planning on going to the refrigerator for a snack, stopped in her tracks. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that there was a nonhuman in her home. Or, maybe it had something to do with the fact that Slenderman was in the way of the fridge.

"Hey, what's up?" the girl greeted, smiling brightly. "Are you a friend of Mothy-Man?"

_Mothy-Man? _Slen questioned. _Is that what you call him?_

The little girl nodded her head. "Yep, but don't tell him I told you. He doesn't like it when people call him funny names. So, what's your name? Are you friends with Daddy too?"

Slender could not understand how this child was not afraid of him. This, her reaction, was completely and utterly alien to him. No one ever treated him like a normal human, ever. It had been that way since he was a little child. Maybe this child was so accepting because she knew of the Mothman. It was a possibility. But here he was, doing it again-thinking so hard and long. Forcing thoughts from his mind, der Ritter held out his hand to the child, _I am the Slenderman. We share a mutual friend, child._

The little child furrowed her brow. "What's mutual mean?"

Slen had to remind himself that this was not Sohn. This child did not just inherently know everything. She had to learn like a normal human. Maybe that was how it was supposed to be, but Slender found himself spoiled by his boy's inborn knowledge. _Mutual means common, shared, joint. In saying we have a mutual friend, I meant that Mothman is also my friend. _He knelt down to be at the child's level-Raine had said this was the proper thing to do with children. _Now, what is your name?_

"You gotta guess my name. I'll give you a hint; it starts with a 'G' and it's German," the child replied, smiling all the more. Clearly she was a happy child. She was not entirely certain what to make of this entity, but he seemed to be nice enough. Sure, he was scary, but so was the Mothman. Still, him being scary did not mean that she had to run away from him. Maybe that was foolish, but she did not really care. He was here, and Daddy knew about him. That meant he was a cool dude.

Slen knew that he did not have time to be playing with children, but there was something about this kid that was hard to resist. He figured that he could indulge her to some extent.

Indrid thought that he ought to stay with his host until the man would wake. It seemed like the only polite thing to do, though he would not know. He never was the guest in a person's home. Still, following his escape from the demon and his little creation, he had found himself with very few options. Staying in the old TNT factory was not possible. They would have been found almost immediately.

He regretted trying to make a deal with the demon. He had been promised his entire humanity in return for taking little Ellaina. At the time he had thought nothing of it. The chance of having his humanity had seemed too good to be true, and he had been willing to do just about anything to get it back. Still, it should have been obvious that the offer was too good to be true. Instead of getting what he wanted, he had merely been tortured and had brought harm to the Slenderman.

Thoughts were interrupted for the Mothman when his host began groaning and coming to. The cryptid looked down on the man, who was currently stretched out on the couch. The man looked up to the human form of the Mothman and simply groaned again. "You never said anything about having a friend stay here," the host muttered.

"Apologies, John Klein," he replied, unconsciously snapping into his formal voice. "We will not be here long. After Slenderman heals his wounds-"

"Slenderman?" John questioned, sitting up and sounding none too happy. "Look, I understand that you don't kill people-well, maybe-but that _thing _is not welcome here. It could end up hurting-oh, god no. My daughter came home, didn't she?"

Before Indrid had the chance to say anything, the human was on his feet and running into the kitchen, calling out his daughter's name. Indrid merely sighed, and sat down on the couch. He knew that his friend was not going to take well to John's reaction. Still, there was no way to avoid this upcoming confrontation. It was bound to happen.

A/N- I know that this is a VERY short update. Please, do not hate me. Also, I have a little poll going. If you readers could please participate in it, I will forever love you…and give you cookies.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N- I know it's been a long time since I last updated. Please don't hate me too much.

Slenderman did not know when children had started to take a liking to him. He also had no idea how he had gone from a ruthless killer into…whatever he was now. The fact of the matter was that he had somehow become domesticated, and in all honesty, that bothered him to no end. While it was easier to play the role of the domestic, it was not nearly as entertaining. As he stood in the kitchen listening to the little girl, Geralyn, going on and on about her school, the Slenderman started to wonder why he did not just go back to being what he was before he had met Ellaina. She had been his only reason for acting even partially human. Now that she had become the item of a demon, he really had no reason to be so nice to the humans. The only partial human he had any responsibility for was Sohn, and even then, there was Raine to care for the boy. He did not need the child.

Then again, as the little girl continued her prattle, der Ritter realized that he might not want to abandon his child. The way that children could act, their antics, were entertaining enough. But, if he were to go back to his old ways, a child would merely get in the way, right? He was not entirely certain. His child wasn't entirely human; he had some of his father's powers. Maybe that could come in handy. Seeing as Totheark had decided to abandon him, Slen knew that he would need to have someone that was more human looking than him for help. Maybe the child could be of some use to him.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of someone entering the kitchen, shouting at him to get away from the little girl. As the man began to go off on him about the safety of the little girl, Slender found his irritation level rising. Why did all of the humans just assume that he would automatically harm anything that moved? He had self-control. He was not some animal that would kill simply for the fun of it. And, hadn't this "John Klein" housed him? Did the man honestly think that he would just up and kill everyone in the house after the man had shown him kindness?

Klein's shouts of anger quickly became too much for der Ritter to deal with. There were too many things running through his mind, and the last thing he needed to deal with was someone accusing him of wanting to kill some innocent child. Well, if the man wanted to believe this, very well. Allowing his anger to take control, the Slenderman had the little girl pulled away from her father and suspended in the air, a hand tight around her throat. With his other hand, the entity kept the father figure at bay.

_You believe I would kill this child for the mere enjoyment of watching the life drain out of her little eyes? _Slen questioned the man, tilting his head slightly. Giving a dark chuckle, he looked into the fearful eyes of Geralyn. _Did your mother never teach you it was improper and dangerous to speak to strangers? Hmm, I suppose not. _He looked back at the father of the child. The fear in both of the humans' eyes brought back a memory of something to him. It was of power and strength. It was something he had not felt since Ellaina had entered his life. How weak she had made him. Humans be damned. It was time to reestablish himself as the ruthless killer that he was.

Indrid knew that he would not want to go into the kitchen the moment Klein had gone running into said room. There was bound to be some sort of confrontation between the human and the other entity that was currently in the house. He knew that the Slenderman was not always the most patient when it came to dealing with humans condemning him. Still, he could not blame der Ritter, what with his past and all. So many humans had called him demon, devil, and much worse. The same could be said about himself. Perhaps that was why he had been so willing to do the demon's bidding. Well, he certainly was not about to make that mistake again. For whatever reason, Fate had decided to make him this way. There was no point in trying to fight against it any longer.

The sounds of desperate cries from his human host took Indrid's attentions away from his less than human half. Whatever was happening in that other room certainly did not sound like the confrontation he had predicted. It sounded much more violent. Deciding that there was likely something very bad about to happen, Indrid slowly pulled himself up from the couch and began making his way into the kitchen. Upon entering the room, the sight which greeted him caused a shock to run through Indrid's system. This was the last thing he had expected to find.

Little Geralyn was being held in the air, the Slenderman's hand tight around her throat with John Klein desperately struggling against his daughter's attacker to save the little girl. The child was starting to become blue in the face and tears were streaming down her face. Still, the child was not called her attacker a monster, as most humans would. She was merely begging the Slenderman to let her go and apologizing for her daddy for hurting Slender's feelings. Still, it seemed that the other was not paying the child any attention. If anything, her cries only seemed to be making the entity drag her death out for longer and longer.

"What are you doing?" Indrid shouted, moving forward to try and pull the child away from the Slenderman. Before he had the chance to reach the child, the other tossed their human host at him, all the while keeping the child held tightly in his grasp.

Slender glared at the human and Indrid, wondering why Mothman would be willing to help the humans of this town out. They had only served to harm him in the past. They had placed the blame of the Silver Bridge collapse on him. Why would he find the need to want to save one of them? He looked from the pair and then to the child. Addressing the two, though still looking at the little girl, he stated in a calm voice, _Your dear friend believes I would kill his daughter. Should I not give him something to believe in? Should I not live up to my reputation? _

Klein made to protest, but Indrid silenced him with a motion of his hand. The entity pulled himself up to his full height and took a cautious step toward der Ritter. If he had to use force to save the child, so be it. Still, that was not his way. The least he could do was try to reason with the other. "Slen, I know you are better than this. You do not need to live up to the standard that the humans have put up to you."

The other laughed slightly, turning his scarred, blank face to the Mothman. Reaching out with his mind, he found that little part in Indrid's brain which allowed him to remain human. Slightly prodding at it, Slen was able to force the human to change back into his true form, the red-eyed being known as the Mothman. _You say I should not live up to their standards? Well, look to yourself before you decide to pass judgment. I am not the one masquerading as a human. I have never made deals with demons in an attempt to gain back my humanity. _

Seeing the cryptid look away from him, Slender looked back to the small child. It seemed like such a waste to kill this little one. She had some potential. She did not fear him as so many others did, even as he slowly drained the life from her. She could perhaps be of some use to him. Having some help around could always come in handy. Still, she was so young. How could she help with her age? No, she could not. Her presence in his life would only be a problem.

"Charlie Matheson," Klein spoke up, taking a step around the Mothman.

Everything froze for the Slenderman as the name escaped the human's mouth. Memories long repressed came flooding back to him. He remembered a missing-child photo, depicting a young boy. The photo truly was only a prediction of what the child would look like at the age the picture stated. The boy in the picture had gone missing long ago. The memories of another time, another life, forced all thought from the Slenderman. No longer did he want to kill the child. No longer did he want to do…anything. He condemned Mothman for trying to regain his humanity, but Slen knew he would give anything to gain back his own humanity, to be able to be that one from the missing-child picture.

Numbly, the Slenderman dropped the child and looked to the human who had his gaze strongly fixed on him. _How-how do you know that name? _Seeing as the human now had his focus on the little girl, der Ritter turned his attention to the child. She was not moving, and it appeared that she was not even breathing. He knelt beside the child, reaching out to try and find a pulse from the child. His hand did not even make contact with Geralyn before he found himself being shoved away from her. The child's father had pulled her protectively into his arms, shielding her from her attacker. He pulled himself up to his feet and walked slightly away from der Ritter.

As the father came to realize that his child was not breathing, anger came into his eyes. "She did nothing, you monster. You killed her. You killed her!" His voice was turning from anger to desperate. He looked to the red-eyed cryptid who had been remaining silent through this entire encounter. The man held the child out to the entity. "Can you help her?"

Mothman sighed. "I am unable to heal." The entity came to look at the child, his hand coming to Geralyn's wrist. There was a slight pulse. His red eyes flashed slightly in surprise at this. The child looked dead for all intents and purposes. Something was keeping her tethered to this world. He did not know what it could be. Perhaps there was some good in Fate that did not wish to see a child die. He turned his attention to the Slenderman, who was standing away from them, unable to look upon either. "She is still alive, Slenderman. If there is any of Charlie Matheson Junior left in you, help this child."

_How do you know that name? _Slender asked again, wanting to understand how both the human and Mothman were aware of the name. He had told no one about the name, not even Totheark. It was a name that he had forced from his memory. He had repressed it to the point that he had forgotten it for the most part. Still, he did not want to focus on that now. He made his way to the father of the little girl, who quickly pulled her away from him. Bowing his head, Slender stated softly, _I will do no further harm. Allow me to heal her, and then I will leave you. _

"Why should I trust you?" Klein growled, still not moving to let Slen have access to the child.

_You've no reason to trust me, but if you wish for your child to live, then you must allow me to heal her, _der Ritter answered. When the human slowly turned so the little girl was exposed to him, he gave a soft sigh. The look of pain on the child's face made him remember Ellaina. He remembered her suffering at his hands. He had tried to become more human for her, and he had enjoyed having his humanity back. And now, how easily he had slipped back into his old ways. He truly was nothing more than a monster. Still, the least he could do was heal the child to make up for the sins he had committed in this house. And as he did not have the trust of the child, he used the technique he had always reserved for Totheark on the child. Using all of the energy he had to draw upon, Slender did his best to revive the child.

Feeling something snap back into place in the child, the Slenderman pulled away from her. He moved to stand further away from Klein, and even Mothman, to allow the child her time to reawaken. When a gasp and cry filled the room, Slender let out a breath he did not know he had been holding. In looking at the child and father, Slender realized that he had very nearly ruined a family. How many families had he ruined in this way throughout his life, since he had become "the Slenderman"? How many had he killed since he had stopped being the human once known as Charlie Matheson Junior? But, a more pressing question was stuck in his head.

Seeing as the Mothman had taken the little girl out of the room, Slender decided it was time to get the answer that was burning at him. If more force be necessary, so be it. He was back in control of himself, and he knew that he would not allow himself to kill John Klein. He teleported the short distance between himself and the man, preventing the human from leaving the kitchen. He brought his hand up to the human's face and cupped it. Fear sparked through Klein's eyes, but there was no reason for it-not yet anyway. With his humanity still in question, Slender through worry of causing the human terror out the proverbial window. He wanted, needed, answers, and he was going to have them now.

_How do you know my name?_

A/N- So, Charlie Matheson Junior is a character from the game _Slender: the Arrival. _I, of course, do not own the character. Play the game and beat the secret level, and you will further understand the whole "name" theme of this chapter. If you do not want to play the game, just PM me and I'll tell you all about the secret level and the meaning of the name, Charlie Matheson Junior. :)


	14. Chapter 14

A/N- Here's the next chapter.

_How do you know my name? _der Ritter questioned, not allowing the human to escape his grasp. No, that could not be allowed. No one knew of that name, not even Ellaina. It was supposed to stay that way. No one was supposed to know his true identity. If people were to get a hold of that information, it could very easily be used against him.

Klein knew that this entity was trying to make him fearful, and he was doing a good job of it, despite the efforts he put forth to hide that fear. What choice did he have but to supply the one in front of him with the answers he wanted? He had no choice. There was no telling what this creature had in mind. At the very least, the Mothman was not known for being a ruthless killer. That being always took care to remind his host of that fact. This, Slenderman, was known for being a killer, and a ruthless one at that. The only option was to try and please this being in order to make him leave.

"Research," the human finally answered.

Slender pulled away from the man, turning his back to stare out one of the kitchen's windows. The human knew his name through research. What exactly did that mean? There were no records of his life prior to becoming what he was. No, he had made certain those records were destroyed personally. Nothing existed about him, aside from the stories the humans posted online.

John Klein came to realize that his guest was likely confused over this whole thing, considering that the being had yet to say a word. Well, he really didn't say anything. The whole idea of this being speaking into his mind was still new to the human. Mothman had told him this was the way that the Slenderman spoke and to be prepared for it, but the fact was that it disturbed him to have someone inside his mind. Still, now was not the time to focus on that.

The human slowly approached his less-than-welcome house guest. He pulled out his phone and began looking something up, via Google. It did not take him long to find the page he was looking for. He held the phone out to the Slenderman, expecting the being to take it. When the other merely glanced at the device and then away, the human gave an irritated sigh. "You wanted to know how I found out who you were. Here's the information."

_Your fake Internet stories do not interest me, _Slen replied.

"Well, this story isn't fake," John countered. He scrolled to the bottom of the article. Holding the phone out to the nonhuman once again, Klein stated, "Look who wrote it."

Slender gave an exasperated sigh. _If it will only shut you up, fine. _He took the phone from the human. Klein quickly pulled away as the phone left his hands, making sure no contact was made with him. Were it not for the tense situation, Slen would have laughed, though he still found the man's reaction to be humorous. Now, though, he brought his attention to the cell phone in his hand.

It appeared to be some sort of article. He did not know exactly what it was about, as John had scrolled the work down to the very end. Deciding to ignore the human's request to look at the author, Slen scrolled back to the top. He wanted to know just what was being said in this article. What he found made his blood run cold, ice cold. Everything in the article was true, down to the slightest detail. It talked about what happened at GENLAB Industries. His very transformation from human to Slenderman was included, in perfect detail.

_This is not possible, _Slenderman muttered, not understanding how someone would know all of these facts about him. The more he read, the harder it was for him to stay in one place. He began pacing around the kitchen, fear coming into him. No one was supposed to know this. No one knew that he was once human, had weakness. It would be so much easier now for humans to face him, to wish to kill him for taking the lives of their loved ones.

There was also information about Ellaina, and his time spent with her. The article went into detail about their interactions. It even included information on Anne and Totheark-even their son. All of the ones he had come into contact with could be in very real danger if he could not get to them in time. Humans were vengeful creatures by nature, and he knew that they would waste no time in trying to take the lives of the ones he cared for. He could not allow for that. It was because of him that Anne had already lost her life. No one else need die because of him.

It was the very end of the article which gave him the most shock, forced him to sit on one of the kitchen table chairs. The phone very nearly fell from his hand as he read the last lines of the article, as he saw the author of this article.

"_This Slenderman thinks we humans to be so weak. Why do we not prove to him that we are stronger than he thinks? I have done so; I have brought harm to the Faceless One. So, my dear Slenderman, if you are reading this, know that I will find you, and I will kill you. _

"_Always, and as your author my readers, Ellaina Asde." _

It did not seem possible that Ellaina could betray him in this way. She had always promised never to reveal his most guarded secrets to anyone. She had said that he could trust her with anything. Yet, this was what she was doing now, publishing to the world what had happened to him. It amazed him that she had gone as far as to look into his father's history in order to discover his true identity. He would have thought she would want nothing to do with the man. And, why would she want to put Totheark's son in danger? The little boy had done nothing.

Then, that hit him, the danger that those who he cared for were in danger. How long had this article been on the Internet? How many people had read it and were actively searching to harm his family? Despite his disagreement with Totheark, he would never wish to see the boy harmed. The boy had already lost so much. Slender could not allow him to also lose his son. It was just by luck that Ellaina did not seem to know of their own son or of his location.

But, was she really even Ellaina any longer? Mothman said that she had fallen into darkness and become something of a demon. She had more or less lost her soul to whatever had taken her over. Was there a way to bring her back to the light? Did he even want to? She had harmed him far worse than any other opponent ever had. While it was true that he could easily fix the problem, it did not erase what had happened. Still, he had harmed her and she had not given up on him.

"Slenderman?" John questioned, unsure of what to do in this situation. Mothman had said that his unwanted guest would not like reading this article. In fact, the cryptid had gone as far as to beg him not to disclose the information to the other entity. Still, the human did not believe in hiding facts from people. This entity needed to know what had been going on in the world since his apparent disappearance from it. He needed to know what his wife had been doing to the world, well, she and her demon partner. Taking a deep breath, the human continued on, "There is more you should know."

_What else could possibly be going on in this world? _Slen questioned, picking up on the man's thoughts. Something else bad was happening. Somehow, he doubted that he wanted to know what it was. It had to be bad, seeing the way the human was reacting.

Why couldn't the Mothman be the one to explain this to him? It did not seem right for a simple human to be explaining such things to the Slenderman. "Well, the world has gone very downhill in the time you have been here. For whatever reason, it seems that you were the one keeping balance between the human world and…your world. So, your wife and her demon partner have been killing humans and cryptid beings alike. They are trying to find you and Mothman. Also, the ones from your world have taken it upon themselves to start a war between themselves and humans.

"The entire town has fallen apart. She and her demon have made Point Pleasant their base of operations. Any human who gets too close to their base ends up dead. We live in fear every day that they will kill us humans. It's just luck they haven't come searching here yet. They say that their next target is somewhere in the woods. The Demy-On says she is going to find her child…and kill it."

_She is no longer my wife, _Slender growled. Perhaps he could forgive Ellaina for harming him and wishing to kill him. Plenty of people wanted him dead; what was one more person? But, for her to openly threaten their child and start destroying humanity, that was unforgivable. The nonhumans of this world always lived in balance with the humans. While they would kill the humans, they never went out on an all out war against them. No, that would be far too easy. Those who did decide to try and kill the humans too openly were usually taken down by some other entity. Slenderman, himself, had done this on more than one occasion. How could it be that an all out war had started since he had disappeared? He did not have that much power, so it was not right to say it was him keeping the balance between the human and nonhuman world. The sooner he was able to take out Ellaina, the better. But, how?

Mothman entered the room, looking the part of the human again. He looked from the human to his so-called friend. It appeared that the truth had been revealed to him. Well, at the very least he would get to be the bearer of some good news. They had a visitor, a very special visitor. How this person had found the location was beyond him, but Indrid was not about to question it. "I see Klein has informed you of the situation."

_Indeed, _Slender answered, pulling himself up to his feet now. _I need to get to her base of operations and kill her. Balance must be restored, Indrid. _

"While I do agree, you need to formulate a plan," Indrid replied. He smiled slightly, sensing another presence slowly coming behind him. "But, before you go out to fight, we have another visitor."

"Another?" Klein demanded, sounding none too thrilled. When Indrid merely looked away from his demanding glare, the human merely gave up. It seemed that his home had become the base for those willing to fight against the forces of evil. His home was turning into something from Star Wars. Here was the Rebel Base, getting ready to fight against the Evil Empire. With a sigh and shake of the head, the human left the room. He needed to check up on his daughter. He glanced at the person behind Indrid and smiled slightly. Well, at least his daughter could have a friend.

_Well, who is it? _Slender questioned, starting to get annoyed. He did not have time to be entertaining people. He needed to figure out how to destroy Ellaina's little regime.

The one hiding behind Indrid could not wait any longer. He was so happy that he had finally found the Slenderman. Now, he and his friends could be safe, provided he could get back to them. The hidden guest jumped out from behind Indrid and ran toward the Slenderman, crying out in an extremely happy tone, "Daddy!"

The last thing the Slenderman expected was for their visitor to be his son. He had never expected to see the boy again, or at least not soon. He had half expected the boy to have been killed by someone. But, now, having the boy hugging him brought the father back to the real world. He pulled the boy tightly against himself, not caring what Indrid thought of him for this interaction. He did not care about anything at the moment. In this moment, the only thing on his mind was that of his son. He knew that he would need to survive his upcoming encounter with Ellaina if only for this little miracle.

A/N- Please review. It really helps me.


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